Arizona Softball dominates Hillenbrand Invitational with 5 run-rule wins

On Sunday, the No. 14 Wildcats (17-5) rallied from their first deficit of the tournament to beat Long Beach State 12-2 in five innings.

Long Beach had previously beaten then-No. 4 Oklahoma 6-4 on Feb. 21.

Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe felt like the tourney was a complete performance for the Wildcats, on offense, defense and in the circle.

“It felt good to watch them kind of let loose a little bit, and we really didn't take a lot of hard pitches,” Lowe said. “I think that was my biggest thing is, we just went for it when the ball was in the zone and even when we were missing … our outs were tough outs the whole time because we were going for it, so it didn't feel like there was really ever a time this weekend that we had kind of a lull where we were making outs the same way.

“So I thought that's a huge credit to our players passing the bat and just doing their job.”

Long Beach State (12-8) struck first in Sunday’s game with runs from a single and a bunt. Arizona responded in its half of the first inning with eight runs, starting with bases loaded walks by senior utility Sydney Stewart and sophomore utility Emma Kavanagh and an RBI fielder’s choice by senior utility Grace Jenkins.

Then they added a two-run single by sophomore infielder Jenna Sniffen, an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Addison Duke and an RBI single from junior utility Regan Shockey.

In the second inning, Kavanagh hit a 2-run homer. Sniffen then hit a 2-run dinger in the fourth inning.

“We just put the team first in every category, defense, offense,” Sniffen said. “So just understanding like where we're at as a team and we can have the ability to put a lot of runs in an inning and just keep on going.”

Arizona freshman pitcher Rylie Holder (6-1) got the start and the win after giving up the two early runs.

On Saturday, the Wildcats hit four home runs to beat Howard 9-0 in five innings.

Arizona senior infielder Tayler Biehl started the scoring with a 2-run homer in the first.

Canyon del Oro alumnae Julia Holt came on to pitch for the Bison during the second inning, during an at-bat with a couple of Wildcats on base, but got out of the jam. However, after a three-up, three-down third, Arizona tagged her for five runs.

In the fourth inning, Duke hit a 3-run home run, followed by Biehl hitting a 3-run homer and Stewart hitting a solo long ball.

Senior pitcher Jalen Adams (9-3) earned the win, pitching four scoreless innings with two hits and a walk.

In the nightcap on Friday, Arizona beat Minnesota 11-2 in five innings, after hitting three home runs.

In the first inning, the Wildcats struck first when Stewart hit a 2-RBI single. Then senior infielder Kiki Escobar got a 2-RBI single when the Golden Gophers’ second baseman slipped and fell with the bases loaded.

In the second, Stewart hit a 2-run homer, and Sniffen hit a 2-run home run in the third. Sophomore infielder Sereniti Trice hit an RBI single, and Biehl got an RBI on a fielder’s choice.

Adams got the start, pitching three scoreless innings before being relieved by sophomore pitcher Sarah Wright, who didn’t record any outs and gave up two earned runs. Adams returned to the game with the bases loaded and shut down Minnesota.

Arizona responded with a leadoff home run by Kavanagh in the home half of the fourth.

Adams ended up getting credit for pitching five innings, surrendering three hits and a walk.

Kavanagh said the mercy-rule wins come from playing inning by inning, like on Sunday when Long Beach scored a couple of times in the first, and Arizona responded with eight runs in the home half of the frame.

“We don’t even look at the total runs,” Kavanagh said. “I think we go inning by inning, which is something big for us, seeing like they put up a two-spot, we’re able to put up an eight spot and we feel like we took the momentum back and that's kind of where these run rules come from.”

On Friday, Arizona beat Long Beach State, 8-0, in five innings, hitting three home runs, six in total in the doubleheader.

The Beach loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning, but Shockey caught a fly ball and then threw an LBSU player out at home. Then Holder induced a groundout.

In the home half of the first, Arizona got on the board via a 2-RBI double by Stewart. A batter later, Jenkins hit a 2-run home run.

Then, freshman infielder Kez Lucas made it six runs in the first inning for the Wildcats with a 2-run home run of her own.

In the second inning, Biehl added another 2-run home run.

“I look at someone like Tayler Biehl and her job looked different all weekend and all she did was step in and execute for what she was called to do in that moment,” Lowe said.

Holder got the start in the circle, pitching four scoreless innings, with three hits and three walks.

Arizona opened the Hillenbrand Invitational with an 8-0, five-inning win over Eastern Illinois on Thursday.

Stewart hit a two-run double in the first inning. Then, in the second, Trice hit a 2-RBI double and then scored from second base on a wild pitch.

In the fourth, the Wildcats added three more runs on a sac fly from Biehl, an RBI single from Stewart and an RBI single by Jenkins.

Holder got the win, allowing two hits over five innings.

Up next for the Wildcats is the start of conference play by hosting BYU (5-14). The Cougars are coming off the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., where they went 2-3, including a 7-6 win over California on Thursday.

Extra bases

— Arizona improved its Hillenbrand Invitational record to 148-9. The tournament dates back to 1994.

— The Wildcats honored Holt and her father Julius, who played football for Arizona and died in 2022, before their game against Howard. Holt got a save in the Bison’s 5-4 win over Minnesota on Sunday.