Arizona falls to UCLA in Pac-12 quarterfinals; Wildcats could miss postseason for 1st time since 1986

The UA likely will miss the postseason for the first time in 36 seasons (the 2020 season doesn’t count due to the pandemic) following the eighth-seeded Wildcats’ 4-3 loss to top-seeded UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at Hillenbrand Stadium.

The Wildcats are 1-10 against the Bruins since the 2021 season. UCLA will take on the winner of No. 4 seed Stanford vs. No. 5 seed Oregon on Friday in the semifinals.

"I thought they left everything they had on the field today," Arizona coach Caitlin Lowe said. "I thought today and yesterday, they were a team I hadn't seen them be all season. ... They've got guts and left it all out on the line."

Since UCLA was the home team Thursday, the Wildcats were in the visitor’s dugout along the first-base line, wore their road navy-blue uniforms and hit at the top of the inning.

Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and UCLA star Megan Faraimo pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts and two walks. She allowed three runs on seven hits.

After a two-strikeout, no-hit first inning by Faraimo, Arizona’s bats, fresh off a 13-run performance against rival Arizona State in the play-in game Wednesday night, produced a 1-0 lead following an RBI double by freshman center fielder Kaiah Altmeyer, scoring third baseman Blaise Biringer, who led off the inning with a single to left field.

Leading up to Altmeyer’s RBI, UA redshirt senior catcher Izzy Pacho’s blooper into center field steered UCLA second baseman Anna Vines into the second-base umpire’s shoulder. She collapsed on the field. The rattled Vines was helped off the field and didn’t return for the remainder of contest.

With Vines absent, UCLA shuffled the lineup, moving Megan Grant to right field, Jordan Woolery to first base, Savannah Pola to second and Rachel Cid to third.

Arizona starter Devyn Netz concluded the night pitching six innings and recording six walks, five hits and four earned runs. All four of her strikeouts came in the first two innings.

"I wouldn't change anything that I did or any pitch I chose to throw. ... If I look in the mirror tonight, I gave it my all and sometimes it just doesn't go your way," Netz said. "It's all right, at least I can say I gave it my all for the seniors, for my team and for my coaches." 

Netz delivered at the plate in the top of the third inning, with a deep shot to the left-center field wall to score All-Pac-12 first-teamer Dakota Kennedy to give Arizona a 2-0 lead.

Then the Pac-12 Player of the Year arrived.

Redshirt junior Maya Brady, the Pac-12’s top player and niece of former NFL star quarterback Tom Brady, launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game.

Arizona second baseman and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Allie Skaggs, who hit the walk-off grand slam to run-rule ASU on Wednesday, slapped an RBI single with two outs in top of the fifth inning to bring home Tayler Biehl to put Arizona up 3-2.

Brady’s offensive brilliance reappeared in the bottom of the fifth. Brady hit a solo home run, going back-to-back with Grant, to put UCLA up 4-3. It was Brady’s 18th home run of the season.

"She's a good player, she's a competitor, she's been that way since we were watching her when she was 10 or 11 years old," Lowe said of Brady. "She just competes, and we gave her some pitches today. I thought we made a couple of mistakes, but listen, she's a good hitter. She's going to compete in those moments, and she's got people behind her who's going to compete as well. ... Good hitters are going to hit, so it's just a matter of, 'Can we respond in those moments and put some runs on the board?' 

"We had chances and kept having chances all game. I'm just proud of how they kept fighting." 

Fighting back tears, Pacho said Arizona "gave (UCLA) a run for their money and they thought they were going to roll over us." 

"We showed that we can hang with them," she said. "We're here for a reason, and I think games like that are why we created the Pac-12 Tournament, so teams like us, who maybe didn't perform the way we wanted to during the regular season, can have a chance at upsetting someone. But I'm just super proud of this team. We put our hearts on the field and gave it everything we had." 

Arizona (29-25) will await its postseason fate during the selection show on Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2. 

Netz believes Arizona's outing against No. 2 ranked UCLA will boost the Wildcats' chances to sneak into the postseason. 

"What we talked about in the huddle after the game is that ASU put up a four-spot and we came back and put up 13 runs and that's something that doesn't go unnoticed, especially in the Pac-12," Netz said. "I honestly think we had (UCLA) sweating. I would love to see us have a chance at the tournament and see what we can do." 

Lowe concurred. 

"I would've been iffy before this week," she said. "I don't know, the reason we decided to have this tournament was for teams like us — for the opportunity to showcase why we deserve to keep playing. In the middle of conference (play), this team could've folded and gone in a different direction, but they chose to fight every single day. ... I feel good going into Sunday with my squad, that's all I feel.

"I know we're going to stick together no matter what, but I feel like we have more games to play. Their best softball is being played right now." 

Extra bases

• Former Arizona catcher Sharlize Palacios, who transferred to UCLA this season, was held out on Thursday with a left hand injury. The All-Pac-12 Defensive Team selection remains questionable for Friday. Fellow Wildcat-turned-Bruin Janelle Meono started in center and went 1 for 3.

• The Pac-12 Tournament continues on Friday at Hillenbrand with No. 3 seed Utah facing second-seeded Washington at 4:30 p.m.