Big 12 softball gets under way on Thursday, Mar. 4. What does the pitching look like for the Arizona Wildcats heading into the three-game series against BYU?
There were a lot of changes in the circle this season. Only one pitcher from last year’s staff returned and she only threw 4.1 innings last season. The majority of Arizona’s innings are going to senior transfer Jalen Adams and freshman Rylie Holder.
The most obvious difference between this year’s pitching staff and last year’s group is the sheer
number of pitchers on the team. Arizona had eight pitchers on staff last year, although most of them didn’t see much time in the circle.
When all was said and done, only Devyn Netz and Miranda Stoddard met the NCAA stat requirement of one inning pitched per game in 2025. So far this year, the Wildcats again have two pitchers who are meeting that threshold in Adams and Holder, although sophomore transfer Jenae Berry just fell out of the qualifying group over the weekend.
Netz was the ace of last year’s team as far as innings pitched. She pitched 152.1 innings with 80.2 coming in nonconference play. She was good for a 2.69 ERA and 0.92 WHIP when facing teams outside the Big 12, including in the postseason. She struck out 7.79 batters for every walk she issued and 0.87 per inning. The only pitcher on the staff who pitched more than one inning all season and had more than one strikeout per inning was Saya Swain at 1.07.
The biggest struggle for Netz came with home runs. She surrendered one approximately every four innings of work. Arizona’s primary pitchers are doing a much better job keeping the ball in the yard despite a fairly challenging preconference slate.
This season, the ace is Adams. While she hasn’t pitched any postseason games for Arizona yet, she has already faced several teams that made last year’s postseason. That includes nine games against Oklahoma (x3), Stanford, Texas (x2), Coastal Carolina, Santa Clara, and Howard.
Adams has thrown 53.2 innings for Arizona heading into Big 12 competition. She has nine starts in 16 appearances and is sporting a 3.13 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.
Unlike Netz, Adams does not strike out many batters compared to the number of walks she issues. No one on this year’s staff does. Her strikeout-to-walk ratio is just 1.17.
However, Adams does keep the ball in the park much better than last year’s ace. While Netz gave up 0.24 long balls per inning in nonconference play, that number is a mere 0.07 for Adams. In Arizona’s ballpark, that might be more important than strikeouts.
Stoddard was Arizona’s No. 2 pitcher in 2025 as far as innings pitched. She had 65.0 outside the Big 12 and 105.0 overall. In nonconference play (including the postseason), she had a team-best 1.29 ERA and 0.91 WHIP.
Stoddard didn’t strike out as many per inning as Netz, but she still had 4.25 strikeouts per walk issued. Six of Arizona’s eight pitchers last year had at least one strikeout per walk against non-Big 12 opponents. Four had at least 3.10. No one on this year’s staff approaches that.
Stoddard was also one of the better Arizona pitchers at limiting home runs. Of the pitchers who threw at least 20 innings in nonconference play, she led with just 0.05 home runs per inning pitched. Both of Arizona’s primary pitchers are in that vicinity this season.
Holder wasn’t quite ready to go when the 2026 season started, but she has shown a lot of promise since she started pitching. She is firmly established as Arizona’s No. 2 this year as far as starts (7) and innings pitched (39.0). She leads the team in ERA (2.69), WHIP (1.26), strikeouts per inning (0.36), fewest walks per inning (0.28), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.27), and home runs per inning (0.05).
When comparing the entire staff of 2025 with the one Arizona has in 2026, there are definitely some areas that the Wildcats have regressed in, but they have also improved some areas, especially when only comparing those with qualifying numbers. They are actually giving up more home runs per inning this year because their No. 3 and No. 4 pitchers have surrendered a lot (14) compared to their innings pitched (37.1).
Last year’s staff gave up 0.14 long balls per inning in nonconference play. This year, the number is 0.16 when all four pitchers are compared against the eight on last year’s staff, although it’s lower when only the qualifying pitchers from each staff are in the mix.
Adams and Holder have surrendered just six total home runs in 92.2 IP heading into Big 12 play. Netz and Stoddard gave up 22 in 145.2 IP, including the postseason. Stoddard was only responsible for three of those.
Strikeouts have taken a noticeable decline this year with the absence of Netz. The staff of eight struck out 0.76 per nonconference inning and 3.03 per walk issued last year. Those numbers have dropped to 0.44 strikeouts per inning and 1.04 strikeouts per walk during the 2026 preconference stretch.
