Coming into the Pac-12 Tournament as the No. 5 seed, the Arizona softball team is set to face the No. 4 seed University of Washington on Thursday, May 9, at 6:30 p.m. in Stanford, California at the Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium.
Who the Wildcats would face first in the tournament was a toss up, as the University of Oregon and Washington were tied with records of 13-10. If multiple teams are tied, their conference win-loss records are compared head-to-head against each team in the standings, one by one. The team with the most wins against the best teams wins the tie.
The Wildcats have struggled against the Huskies in the regular season, losing their series back in mid-March 1-2. In the first two games, Washington run-ruled Arizona (13-2) in the first game and (11-3) in the second. The Wildcats came out of the series with a singular win in the final game, with a final score of 2-0.
Arizona had a big day on Tuesday, May 7 with seven Wildcats earning All-Pac-12 honors. Dakota Kennedy, Regan Shockey and Allie Skaggs were recognized for their outstanding performances, landing spots on the prestigious first team. Carlie Scupin and Aissa Silva weren’t far behind, earning second-team All-Pac-12 recognition.
The accolades didn’t stop there as sophomore Tayler Biehl was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Biehl also brought home additional honors, being selected to both the All-Pac-12 third team and the All-Defensive team. Rounding out the Wildcats’ success, Shockey and Emily Schepp were named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team, showcasing their bright futures.
If the Wildcats defeat Washington, they will move on to face either UCLA, ASU or Oregon State University. The Bruins came into the tournament as the No.1 seed after winning their 13th regular season Pac-12 Title.
The Wildcats have had great momentum coming into the tournament as they won their final game of the regular season against Grand Canyon University on April 30. The Huskies, on the other hand, struggled in their final series against the University of Utah, losing the first two games before the last one got canceled.
It will be interesting to see how the Wildcats perform on the road for the tournament, as last year they had the pleasure of it being hosted in Tucson at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium. The semi-finals will take place on Friday, May 10 at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., followed by the Championship game on Saturday, May 11 at 7 p.m.
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