No. 14 Arizona softball hadn’t lost a game since Friday, Mar. 20 when the Arizona State Sun Devils took the opening game of their three-games series. The Wildcats went on to win eight straight games and three Big 12 series since then. All that came to an end early Wednesday afternoon when the Iowa State Cyclones used a three-run home run by Reagan Bartholomew to defeat the Wildcats 12-10 in Ames.
It was another game of comebacks for Arizona. The Wildcats just couldn’t hold it this time as both the pitching
and the defense failed to protect leads on several occasions. The defense wasn’t charged with any errors, but initial rulings indicated that it was at least discussed.
The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning on a single, a walk, and an RBI double by Grace Jennings, but things started to go sideways in the fourth.
As has been the case for Arizona pitchers so many times this season, the real damage came with two outs. Starter Jalen Adams allowed a leadoff single in the fourth, but retired the next two. Then came a walk and an RBI single to tie the game. It was a sign of things to come.
Adams returned the next inning. The Cyclones had already seen her 9.2 innings in roughly 24 hours. She’s also a pitcher ISU has seen in the past. The familiarity didn’t help her. She allowed two straight singles to lead off the fifth and was replaced by Jenae Berry.
While Berry got the win in the series opener, ISU had seen a lot of her, too. She pitched 4.1 in that game, giving up two earned runs on a two-run homer. She returned in the second game to relieve Rylie Holder. She gave up four earned runs in 1.1 inning in that outing. She had surrendered five hits, four walks, and a hit batter in her 5.2 innings over two games.
The Cyclones continued to see her well in her third outing. She gave up two earned runs on a hit, a walk, and a wild pitch without recording an out.
The wild pitch came against her first batter. It allowed a baserunner to move into scoring position and an inherited runner to score. That run was charged to Adams. Next came a walk, then a double down the left field line scored the runner from second and put another runner on third. That ended her outing.
The coaching staff went with Holder, but she continued to struggle. The freshman has allowed multiple runs in every outing since facing BYU in the opening series of Big 12 play. She has an 11.48 ERA in nine outings over that period.
She also allowed a runner to score on a wild pitch to start her appearance. A groundout scored the next run. Both were charged to Berry. Holder got the three outs to get Arizona back into the dugout, but the Cyclones led 5-1 by that time. None of the four runs were charged to the pitcher who was in the circle when they scored.
A monster seventh inning gave the Wildcats the win in the second game on Sunday. On Monday, a monster sixth put the game firmly in their hands.
Jenkins was hit by a pitch to start things off, then pinch hitter Emma Kavanagh singled to put two on. Tele Jennings reached on an error, driving in pinch runner Molli Daley.
ISU made a pitching change, returning to starter Lauren Shurman. It didn’t help, as Jenna Sniffen knocked in the second run and moved a runner to third. A second ISU error pushed across the third run of the inning, then a wild pitch moved up both runners who were still on base.
ISU met in the circle to discuss the issue, but Regan Shockey came through with an infield single to the right side, scoring the fourth run of the inning. There were still no outs.
Sereniti Trice finally became the first out of the inning, but she still moved Shockey to second base on her groundout.
Sydney Stewart legged out an infield single to drive in Addison Duke, but the play actually resulted in two runs for Arizona. Shockey crossed home plate, too, but her run came on a throwing error by Bartholomew.
Jenkins stepped into the box for her second at-bat of the inning and launched one to right center. Her ninth home run of the season scored three. They were the final runs of a nine-run frame. Arizona led 10-5 after six innings. Surely, that was enough for the series sweep.
The Wildcats went down easily in the seventh, but they were just three outs away from getting on a plane to Baton Rouge, LA with a series sweep.
They couldn’t get them. Holder went back out and sandwiched a single with two outs. The game was almost over.
After the second out, the Arizona coaching staff met with the team in the circle. That was followed by a walk. There were two on with two outs, but it still didn’t seem dangerous.
A single scored the first ISU run and put runners on the corners. Still two outs, though. Another circle visit was followed by another RBI single, although it initially flashed on the TV screen as an error on Sniffen at third base. This one came in a 2-2 count.
Holder stayed in with Arizona still leading by three runs and the tying run up to bat. She once again got a 2-2 count. She just needed one strike.
For the second straight hitter, that strike didn’t come. This time, it was a long double. Another run scored. The lead was down to two runs.
Now, the winning run would step into the box. Holder wouldn’t face her, though. Adams re-entered the game with two on, two outs, and a two-run lead.
Adams fell behind 2-0, but a strike, another ball, and a foul put her just one strike from the win. Instead, it was an RBI single that didn’t get out of the infield. Arizona’s five-run lead was down to just one run and the tying run was 60 feet away.
The Cyclones didn’t have to worry about tying the game. Bartholomew took one strike then sent the walk-off to right center for the 12-10 win.
Arizona had stayed steady in the RPI and DSR after beating ISU twice on Sunday, but the combination of games around the country and the relative weakness of the Cyclones caused its DSR to drop to 15. What a loss does in all three metrics is the concern now.
The rescheduled games in Ames mean the Wildcats will go directly to Louisiana to play a three-game series at LSU beginning on Friday.
