Wildcats get needed series win, topping No. 22 Oregon in rubber game

No. 25 Arizona (28-13-1, 9-9 Pac-12) did just that after edging out No. 22 Oregon 3-2 on a Jasmine Perezchica walk-off single in extra innings Sunday afternoon at Hillenbrand Stadium.

“I couldn’t ask for a better weekend with these girls,” sophomore pitcher Aissa Silva said following the Wildcats’ 2-1 series win Sunday afternoon.

This marks the Wildcats’ first series victory against a ranked team since March 11, 2023, when Arizona took down then-No. 22 Arizona State in Tempe, and their first home series win against a ranked team since beating then-No. 17 Oregon on April 16, 2022, in a similar win-loss-win fashion.

“We just found a way to grit out a win,” UA head coach Caitlin Lowe said. “I think you can see throughout our conference and throughout the country: Sunday’s are what it’s about.”

Struggling in Friday’s game after allowing five earned runs, Tucson native Silva flipped a switch.

After allowing a 3-run home run in the sixth inning in the first game of the series, Silva put on a show, recording four strikeouts, while only allowing one earned run and two walks in a combined 11⅔ innings (153 pitches).

Lowe said that Silva, who didn’t allow a hit for four consecutive innings in the victory on Sunday “came out as a different person.”

“I think for the first time, she kind of reinvented herself on a Sunday,” Lowe said. She just had some different tools working today that she didn’t have before.

“I’m just so proud of the way she performed. “She was composed, trusted her stuff and just went at people and that was just fantastic to see. She has all those tools normally.”

Despite allowing a home run to tie the game at 2 in the seventh inning on Sunday, Silva said that the fans at Hillenbrand and the team’s overall demeanor helped calm them down heading into extra innings; the Wildcats at home are 3-0 when playing in extras this season.

“I think all of us had that composure of just being calm and quiet and also dangerous,” UA senior infielder Blase Biringer said. “(We were) just working behind Aissa and just going as hard as we can no matter what happens.”

Although not its best scoring numbers, the Wildcats’ bats were consistent throughout the weekend, recording its best batting average in a Pac-12 series of the season with a .309 average.

With just seven games left in the regular season, a conference win of this magnitude is essential for the Wildcats, with Lowe mentioning that Sunday’s series win was “huge” for her team’s NCAA Tournament seeding implications down the road. Arizona currently sits in fifth place in the Pac-12 standings.

“Anytime that you can prove that you can beat good opponents like Oregon, it’s fantastic,” Lowe said. They have a great offense with a great pitching staff, and you’re really trying to build your resume forward with that. I think it was huge for our confidence and for this last stretch of the Pac-12 as well to get on a roll and prove that we can do that for ourselves.”

Biringer added that her team already had confidence, but this win “helped cement” it and give it more momentum heading into the postseason.

UA, which has won six out of its last seven games, will now host in-state rival Arizona State for its last home series of the regular season.

“I think we have a good spot right now, we’re all in a good headspace,” Silva said about the upcoming contests against the last-place Sun Devils. “Going out there next weekend, they are our rivals, so we’re gonna go out there and be confident.”