TEMPE — The series was already in hand but getting a sweep against a quality team in a rivalry series was still the goal. No. 10 Arizona (29-5, 6-3 Big 12) fell short on Sunday afternoon when it left 10 runners on base in a 3-2 loss to Arizona State (23-10, 5-4 Big 12).
The Wildcats got nine baserunners on four hits and five walks against ASU starter Makenzie Brown but stranded eight of them. They struck out eight times against Brown, often in critical situations. Arizona added two hits, a walk, and a strikeout against Sun Devil reliever Meika Lauppe. The Wildcats had one earned run against each ASU pitcher.
“We had some opportunities for runs and we didn’t capitalize,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe. “It’s hats off to her. She’s a great pitcher, and we knew that going in…We made those moments happen on Friday, but we weren’t able to make them happen tonight.”
The inability to get hits in critical situations started early.
The Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning but Devyn Netz, Sydney Stewart, and Miranda Stoddard struck out to leave them that way.
It was the story of the game. The middle of Arizona’s order went 1 for 12. Five of Arizona’s six hits came from the hitters in the one, two, three, and eight holes. Netz was the only batter in the four through seven positions to get a hit, although Stewart drew two walks and Netz drew another one.
ASU starter Brown allowed two Wildcats to reach base again in the second. Once again, she buckled down and got out of it with no damage.
“She just competed,” Lowe said. “And I thought we kind of came out of ourselves a little bit, swinging out of the zone or at pitches that we weren’t hunting. So I think that was the biggest thing. And in a three-games series, it’s you make adjustments against her, she makes adjustments against you. And I thought she did a good job of competing under pressure.”
Brown almost repeated the drill in the top of the sixth. The first two Arizona hitters reached on walks. Two strikeouts put the Wildcats on the brink of coming up empty again.
Tayler Biehl came through. Her liner to left field glanced off the glove of leaping ASU shortstop AJ Murphy. Pinch runner Zaedi Tagalog motored around to score from second. It cut the Sun Devils’ lead to 3-1 but pinch hitter Anyssa Wild became Brown’s eighth strikeout victim to end the inning.
Arizona was in a good position in the top of the seventh. The top of the order, which did most of the Wildcats’ offensive damage on Sunday, was up. Regan Shockey hit a one-out infield single to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Kaiah Altmeyer.
Altmeyer also singled. Shockey went first to third to put runners on the corners with one out. It was a risky move, but her speed won out.
Shockey scored on a fielder’s choice by Netz, making it a one-run game with two outs. Stewart’s walk pushed Netz into scoring position and brought Stoddard to the plate.
Stoddard had nine strikeouts in 56 at-bats coming into the game. She added three to that total on Sunday. The last ended the game.
“I think Kenzie Brown showed up, and she definitely brought her best game,” Stoddard said. “She was throwing in and around the strike zone really well and just keeping us off balance. And we just didn’t do a great job of adjusting, really, throughout the game. She just was able to keep us off balance, and we didn’t really attack the zone.”
Saya Swain got her third start of the season for the Wildcats. She kept the Sun Devils off the board for the first two innings. She was hit by a comebacker in the second but stayed in to pitch and got through the inning with no damage. Lowe said she thought Swain was physically fine after being hit by the ball but they would have to check again to be certain.
Swain’s effective outing ended in the bottom of the third. A one-out single was followed by Ashleigh Mejia’s two-RBI home run to give the Sun Devils their first lead of the series. That ended the day for Swain.
Stoddard had been at the designated player position, but she entered the circle for her second pitching appearance of the series. She threw 5.2 innings in Arizona’s opening game win on Friday. The Sun Devils were ready for her this time.
“We need to score for them,” Lowe said. “That’s the biggest thing. I don’t think it was a pitching issue at all. I think we didn’t score runs today and in opportunities where we could have absolutely put some away.”
ASU hit back-to-back doubles to tack on another run. Stoddard gave way to Ryan Maddox, who got two quick outs to keep the Sun Devils’ lead at 3-0.
Maddox threw two innings of two-hit ball without giving up a run. She walked one and struck out one.
It gave Arizona a chance, but the Wildcats came up just short.
Regardless of how it ended, Stoddard was pleased with how the series went overall because of the first two games.
“I think that that was kind of Arizona softball,” Stoddard said. “But I think even in those two wins, obviously a win is a win. We love it. But even then, there’s room for improvement. So we’ll take the series win, of course. We’ll take the series win against ASU especially, but we feel like we still have room to improve. So it’s good. We have more season left.”
The season continues on the road at BYU (19-6, 4-2 Big 12) beginning Thursday, Mar. 27 at 4 p.m. MST.
Lead photo by Ryan Kelapire
