If there’s a narrative about Arizona softball, it’s that the Wildcats must score a lot of runs to win games. UA provided a counterpoint for that argument with its second shutout of the weekend, defeating Utah 3-0 to sweep the three-game series.
“I think it’s really hard to get sweeps these days,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe. “It’s really hard to play three solid games against good opponents. And, listen, they’re knocking on the door. I know what the record is, but they’re knocking on the door in most of those games.”
The No. 11 Wildcats (26-4, 4-2) started slow on offense. They got a one-out baserunner on a Utah error in the first inning. Miranda Stoddard got a one-out hit in the second, but that ended with a double play off the bat of Jenna Sniffen.
Arizona’s first run was the result of solid hitting and smart baserunning from shortstop Tayler Biehl in the third. Her leadoff single and stolen base put a runner in scoring position with one out for Dakota Kennedy. Kennedy obliged with an RBI single.
“Her getting to second base is honestly what made the run score,” Kennedy said. “Like, yeah, I hit the ball, but her being on base in the first place is why we scored. So, all props to her.”
Biehl had a rough patch at the plate in mid-February, going eight games without a hit and dropping her batting average to .147 after the Stanford game on Feb. 23. Her first hit on Sunday gave her one in 11 of the 13 games since then. Her second hit gave her the fourth multi-hit game over that stretch and raised her average to .282. She ended the game with a .278 average.
“It’s not always perfect in the beginning or in the middle, so just trying to do what it can for my team at the beginning,” Biehl said. “It wasn’t getting on base, but it was still moving runners over and kind of playing the game. And right now, I’m able to kind of cash in a different way, which is nice, but I just keep chipping away, doing my thing. I’m trusting that my team has my back if I don’t get it done.”
Lowe had been saying all along that she knew Biehl would eventually get some hits to fall. She was not worried about her hitting. The head coach also trusts hitting coach Amber Freeman.
“The work she puts in every single day is good and focused and she’s trusting the process and buying into what Amber is teaching,” Lowe sasid. “And I think she always has those moments she tends to go off. And honestly, her stats against the top 25 teams are very good. SoI think when she thinks she can, she does, and it’s very apparent. And she was feisty for us today and also got us going when we needed it, which is a really big.”
Biehl’s stolen base was her fifth of the season. Arizona has stolen 29 bases on 34 attempts in 30 games this season. They were 33 for 44 in 56 games last year.
Arizona added to their lead in the fourth on a walk by Sydney Stewart and a home run by Stoddard. It gave Stoddard nine on the season, tying fellow pitcher/infielder Devyn Netz for the team lead.
Biehl got her second hit of the game to give the Wildcats a two-out baserunner, but they couldn’t tack any more on in the fourth.
Arizona’s pitchers flirted with danger in a few innings. Saya Swain got her second start of the season after picking up her first save in Saturday’s game. She went for three innings but was relieved by Netz following a leadoff single in the fourth.
Netz allowed a hit in the fourth. Two baserunners reached scoring position, but she slammed the door there with help from her defense. Utah got another hit in the fifth but couldn’t do anything with the baserunner.
Netz allowed a leadoff single in the sixth but was almost out of danger when she rolled up a 5-6-3 double play that was masterfully handled by her defense. Two singles followed, briefly ending her time in the circle.
Aissa Silva entered the game with the tying run at the plate and a lefty due to bat. She gave up a grand slam to make game two close less than 24 hours before. This time, she only had to throw one pitch to get the final out of the sixth despite a last-minute change by Utah coach Amy Hogue.
“She was coming in actually, for the lefty, and then they pinch hit to go to the righty, which she stayed calm, cool, and collected, focused through the one and got the out,” Lowe said.
It was the only pitch Silva threw.
Netz returned for the top of the seventh and Kiki Escobar took over for Stoddard at first base. The redshirt senior pitcher sat down the side in order to preserve the shutout and the season sweep of the Utes.
“That felt really good today because I thought we were making pitching changes yesterday according to bad outcomes,” Lowe said. “And I thought we stayed ahead of things, but also everyone did their job in a good way. And you saw that we were able to be creative in certain scenarios.”
Netz picked up the win to improve her record to 10-3. She threw 3.2 innings without surrendering a run. She gave up five hits, all of which were singles. She struck out one without walking a batter. Her ERA now sits at 2.52 and her WHIP is 1.02.
Swain didn’t figure in the decision. She kept the slate clean with 3.0 innings of two-hit softball. Both hits were singles. She put two runners on via bases on balls and struck out three. The outing dropped her ERA to 1.93. Her WHIP is 1.01.
The Wildcats were outhit by the Utes 7-5, but they also tallied five walks while Utah only got two free passes. The home team took advantage of moving runners and timely hits.
Arizona will play a midweek nonconference game against GCU on Wednesday, Mar. 19. They return to Big 12 competition at ASU next Friday, finishing up their contests against former Pac-12 teams. The Sun Devils (21-8, 4-2) are returning home after taking two of three games at UCF (20-11-1, 3-3).
Utah fell to 8-22 overall and 0-3 in their first Big 12 season.
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics