It was a long, challenging road trip both on and off the field. Arizona softball played five different teams in three states, had multiple games either rescheduled or canceled due to weather, and had one game end in a tie after 11 innings. Completing it with a series win to start their final round of league play as a member of the Conference of Champions put the best possible spin on it all.
The Wildcats defeated the Oregon State Beavers 6-0 to take the series 2-1 on Saturday evening. The series was scheduled to end on Sunday, but weather forecasts forced the teams to play a doubleheader on Friday and finish it up on Saturday.
The Wildcats struggled to score runs for most of the road trip. They scored nine runs against Northern Iowa but only managed a total of five runs total until yesterday’s second game. That included an 11-inning marathon against South Alabama that ended in a 1-1 tie.
The pitching was strong most of the time away from Tucson, though. Arizona held the opponent to three or fewer runs in five of the seven games.
The Wildcats put all of it together in their final regular-season game against the Beavers as members of the Pac-12. The offense got going early, and the pitching was top-notch all night.
Aissa Silva got the start, taking the circle for her third appearance in the series. She took both a win and a loss on Friday. On Saturday, she notched another win to improve her overal record to 11-1 and drop her ERA to 1.52.
Silva threw a complete game, giving up no runs on two hits and four walks. She struck out a career-high nine. She allowed a baserunner to reach third in the bottom of the first inning and second in the sixth inning, but those were the only two to reach scoring position in seven innings. The double was the sole extra-base hit for Oregon State.
Second baseman Allie Skaggs came in as one of three starters hitting under .300. While hitting “below .300” meant that she was still hitting .292, her struggles with pop-ups in the early going were obvious to anyone watching the games.
There were no such struggles on Saturday. Skaggs put the Wildcats on the board first with a solo home run to lead off the top of the second inning. It was the first of four runs scored in the frame.
Catcher Emily Schepp followed Skaggs with a single to give Arizona a baserunner. Designated player Paige Dimler brought Schepp around with an RBI triple to put the Wildcats up 2-0.
Tayler Biehl tacked on another run with a one-out single up the middle, then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Three batters later, Regan Shockey topped off the scoring with an RBI single to bring Biehl home and give Arizona the 4-0 lead.
Skaggs wasn’t done. Oregon State pulled starting pitcher Logan Hulon and replaced her with Sarah Haendiges to start the third. The results were the same.
Just as she had in the second inning, Skaggs led off in the top of the third. Just as she had in the second inning, she hit a solo home run. It was Arizona’s only scoring in the third, but it pushed the lead to 5-0.
Skaggs now has seven home runs this season. Four have come in the past four games.
Arizona tacked on one more run in the fifth. Skaggs led off the inning again. This time she walked. Two outs later, Blaise Biringer walked to put two on for Biehl.
Biehl has been scuffling, hitting well below .200 this season, but she came through for the second time in the game. Another RBI single scored Skaggs to make it 7-0 in the Wildcats’ favor.
Silva allowed two hits and a walk through the final three innings. One baserunner reached each inning, but OSU couldn’t do anything with them.
The Wildcats return home after being away for over a week. They will host No. 5 Washington in their Pac-12 home opener beginning on Friday, Mar. 15.