Typically, if the opponent scores just four runs, the Arizona Wildcats have a good chance of winning a softball game. After all, they came into Game 1 of a three-game series at LSU averaging a hair over eight runs per game. They could only scratch across one run in a 4-1 loss at Tiger Park on Friday afternoon.
That run wasn’t even earned. It came when 2-hole hitter Sereniti Trice hit the ball back to LSU pitcher Jayden Heavener. Heavener threw it down into foul territory beyond the right field line.
Trice got on her horse and rounded the bases for a Little League home run.
The four-base error gave Arizona an early lead. The Wildcats had only lost two games all season when scoring first. That number ticked upwards to three in Baton Rouge.
The Wildcats hit a lot of lazy flies and easy grounders off Heavener. A few sharply hit balls went to the warning track but were held in the park by the windy conditions.
Arizona also took a calculated risk in the fifth inning by doing what most teams would do. Regan Shockey and Trice both singled to put two on with one out in front of Tayler Biehl. Biehl flew out to right field, moving Shockey up to third. The throw home was meant to keep Shockey from scoring but it also allowed Trice to move up.
While most players would move up on the throw to get into scoring position, there’s a very real risk that comes with opening first base ahead of a Sydney Stewart at-bat. It was one that LSU exploited with Stewart representing the tying run at the time.
Heavener simply walked Stewart on four pitches way outside. That brought up Grace Jenkins, who hit one of the many flies directly at an outfielder to end the threat.
The offense was generally ineffective. Only Shockey, Trice, Stewart, and Addison Duke got hits. Shockey was the only Wildcat with multiple hits, although both Trice and Stewart reached base multiple times.
Both teams got five hits, but the Tigers drew five walks against two for Arizona. They also had three extra-base hits. Arizona’s hits were all singles.
The home team was more effective one it got runners on, too. The Tigers stranded just three runners while the Wildcats left seven standing on base.
Jenae Berry got the start for Arizona and re-entered late in the game. Rylie Holder came in to relieve.
Holder was the more effective of the two Wildcats, but Berry had some good moments, too. Heavener was more effective.
Berry went 2.2 innings. She gave up three earned runs on two hits and four walks. She also threw a wild pitch. She struck out two.
Holder entered in the third inning with one out. Berry had given up a three-run home run then induced a groundout back to the circle. That ended her outing for a while.
Holder got two quick outs to end the third. She went 3.1 innings, giving up one earned run on three hits and a walk. She also struck out two.
Berry went back into the circle in the bottom of the sixth after Holder gave up a two-out run. She allowed the runner on base to move to third on a wild pitch then walked Ally Hutchins. Stewart got her pitcher out of the jam by throwing out Hutchins when she tried to steal second.
It was one of several superb defensive plays that helped Arizona’s pitchers. Stewart was involved in another that not only ended an inning but did so while keeping a run off the board.
In the bottom of the fourth, Avery Hodge flew out to Shockey for the second out of the inning. The play proved just how vital Shockey is.
The ball should probably have been taken by the right fielder, but Shockey has the stronger arm. She caught it, then re-oriented herself to throw the ball home. It was there waiting for Char Lorenz, who tried to avoid the tag. As she has done before, Stewart used her agility and size to make the tag for the inning-ending double play.
Arizona will try to even the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. MST. The game will stream on SEC Network+, which can be found on the ESPN app.
