No. 10 Wildcats wrap up Clearwater Invitational with 10-1, five-inning win over Indiana

A 10-1 run-rule victory over Indiana Sunday, on the heels of a 6-2 win over No. 8 Virginia Tech Saturday, salvaged a tough start to the week in Clearwater, Florida, for the Wildcats, ranked 10th entering the week in the USA Today/NFCA Division I coaches poll, and 15th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball list.

On Sunday, Paige Dimler, Tayler Biehl and Kaiah Altmeyer each went 2-for-2, while Biehl, Blaise Biringer and Carlie Scupin each recorded a pair of RBIs en route to the five-inning quick finish for the Wildcats (7-3) against the Hoosiers (3-6).

Scupin went 2-for-4, blasting the game’s only home run in to get Arizona going in a seven-run third inning.

In the circle, Sydney Somerndike picked up her first victory, throwing three innings of two-hit, scoreless ball. Ali Blanchard gave up two hits and one run, but walked three, in two innings of work.

After starting the tournament 0-3 following losses to No. 6 Florida State, Texas A&M and Mississippi State, the Wildcats earned their first win of the year away from Tucson’s Hillenbrand Stadium Saturday in 6-2 victory over Virginia Tech. On paper, the win over the eighth-ranked Hokies is the best of the year for the Wildcats, who showed signs of dominance in starting the year 5-0 two weeks ago as host of the Candrea Classic; Arizona won each of those five outings by five-inning run-rule.

Against the Hokies (7-3), Devyn Netz gave up four hits and two runs while striking out five in a complete game effort in the circle for Arizona. Netz improved to 4-1 on the year with the win.

Arizona took a 2-1 lead into the top of the seventh of that outing, but a leadoff solo shot from Olivia DiNardo and a three-run blast from Biringer put the game out of reach and secured Arizona’s first win in Clearwater.

So far this season, Arizona is led at the plate by Biringer, who is hitting .452 with 16 RBIs while starting all 10 games. Scupin has provided half of Arizona’s deep-ball power, batting .355 with a team-high 17 RBIs, while blasting four of the Wildcats’ eight home runs as a team so far this season.

The Wildcats will be on the road again this week for the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, beginning with a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. against the event’s host, No. 4 Arkansas (8-2). Arizona will face the Razorbacks three times and Drake (2-3) twice between Thursday and Saturday.