The University of Arizona softball team (10-1) swept the Bear Down Fiesta with victories over the University of South Alabama (5-5), California State University, Fullerton (7-3) and Ohio University (5-4) from Feb. 13 to Feb. 16 at Mike Candrea Field at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium. This was Arizona’s first tournament sweep since the Hillenbrand Invitational in 2024.

Arizona vs the University of South Alabama on Feb. 13, 5 p.m. 

The Wildcats opened their second tournament of the season with a win against South Alabama 7-6. Arizona brought two in the second inning on a 2-run home run from graduate student Miranda Stoddard.

Junior Sydney Stewart brought the Wildcats back in the lead in the bottom of the third inning, 4-2, with a 2-run double. Stoddard hit her second home run of the night to give Arizona a 3-run lead in the fourth inning.

South Alabama tied the game in the fifth inning with a 3-run home run. Arizona senior Paige Dimmler would secure a short-lived 6-5 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Jaguars bounced back to tie the game 6-6 with an RBI double.

Stewart got the game-winning seventh run in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly from Dimler.

Redshirt senior Devyn Netz pitched the final two innings and gave up two hits and a run. Stoddard started the game on the pitcher’s mound and went 4.1 innings, striking out four Jaguars.

Arizona vs the University of South Alabama on Feb 13, 7 p.m.

The Wildcats ended the night with a shutout win run-ruling the Jaguars 15-0 in five innings in the second game of the doubleheader.

In the first inning, Dimler would hit a huge triple that allowed three runners to score. Stoddard hit a 2-run home run, continuing dominance with a 5-0 lead.

Arizona took a 10-0 lead after the second inning with a pair of home runs. The first was a solo homer from Dimler and the next came from freshman Jenna Sniffen who homered to center field, sending Stoddard home as well. Sophomore Regan Shockey also delivered an RBI single.

In the third inning, Stoddard scored her fourth home run of the doubleheader and Sniffen scored off a pitching error to increase Arizona’s advantage to 13-0. Junior Kaiah Altmeyer’s 2-run double would be the nail in the coffin giving Arizona the 15-0 lead.

Junior Aissa Silva struck out four Jaguars in 3.0 innings in her first win of the year. Brooke Mannon was crucial for Arizona early, striking out two batters in the first two innings.

Arizona vs California State University, Fullerton on Feb. 14, 3 p.m.

The Wildcats would continue their dominance as they run-ruled Cal State Fullerton 10-1 in five innings. Arizona showed out in all faucets for offense scoring big-time homers, while also getting smart plays off pitching errors.

Altmeyer would put the first run on the scoreboard off of a pitching error in the bottom of the first. Stoddard would continue to add to this advantage as she hit a sacrifice fly to send Stewart home.

Arizona’s offense would have a hay day in the second inning as they would open with a Sniffen homer to center field. The Wildcats then would have bases loaded with Stewart at bat. However, Stewart would walk, forcing Logan Cole home. Netz would then bring home two batters as she would single. Arizona’s last score would come in a 3-run homer from Stoddard sending Stewart and Netz home. Arizona would end the second inning with a massive 9-0 lead.

Arizona wouldn’t stop there as in the third inning, Shockey would hit a single to the pitcher. However, after a botched throw, Cole would be able to score again pushing Arizona’s advantage even higher to 10-0.

The Titans’ lone score came in the fourth inning off of an RBI single. This would be enough as Arizona’s lead would end the game in the fifth inning.

Silva would secure her second win with a strong performance that saw only three hits, a run and four strikeouts.

Arizona vs Ohio University on Feb. 15, 3 p.m.

The name of the game was adversity, a skill each of the Wildcats displayed in their hard-earned win against Ohio University.

The game started slow seeing the Wildcats lead the game 1-0 at the bottom of the first inning. After walking the first two batters, the Bobcats quickly answered with 5 runs by the end of the inning. The Wildcats only answered with a single run to end both the second and third innings with a 5-3 score.

Ohio again answered with 2 more runs at the top of the fourth inning, stretching their lead back up. The Wildcats would have four total pitchers enter the game with Saya Swain being the answer to their non-stop offense.

Arizona finally answered back at the bottom of the fourth inning with 8 total runs. Their momentum started with a home run by Altmeyer sending her and a runner home.
With bases loaded, a line drive by Emma Kavanagh sent two runners home tying the score 7-7. The last two runners would be sent home by Sniffen giving a 9-7 lead to Arizona.

Finally, Emily Schepp would come out for her first at-bat of the game and send her along, with Sniffen, back to the plate on a home run, setting Arizona up 11-7.

The last time Arizona would score came in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI. Ohio would get a runner home in the seventh inning, but the Wildcats finished the game with a final score of 12-8.

Plenty of credit goes to Swain’s pitching from the middle. After two pitching changes, Swain got a hold of the game and shut down Ohio’s scoring.

Arizona vs California State University, Fullerton on Feb. 16, 11:30 a.m.

The Wildcats ended the Bear Down Fiesta with a rematch win against Cal State Fullerton. Most of Arizona’s scoring was done in just the first two innings.

A Netz RBI started the scoring at the bottom of the first inning. Netz was on double duty that day as she pitched six innings with only four hits, a run, and five strikeouts on the day.

The bottom of the second inning had Stewart deliver a home run RBI that sent her and two other runners home.

The Titans’ only score came in the top of the fifth inning with just a single run off of a sacrifice fly.

Swain was put in for Netz and started the seventh inning with a strikeout. Although a hit put a runner on first base, a double play would call the game with a final score of 5-1.

Up Next

The Wildcats will host Stanford University, the University of California, Davis, Colorado State University and the University of Texas next weekend in the Hillenbrand Invitational from Thursday, Feb. 20 to Sunday, Feb. 23.