Winning two out of three conference series to start the Big 12 season is a big deal. Winning a rivalry series as one of them is even bigger. The No. 13 Arizona Wildcats (23-8, 6-3) did that on a brutally hot Sunday afternoon as they took down the No. 20 Arizona State Sun Devils* (23-9, 3-6) by the score of 6-4 to win the series 2-1.
“The goal is win the series every weekend,” said Arizona senior Jalen Adams. “Obviously want to sweep whatever, but winning that series is really big, and we want to do
that every weekend.”
Catcher Sydney Stewart came up big in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run. It was one of very few strikes Stewart saw in the weekend’s three games. She was walked six times to go along with her four hits. This one was a no-doubter to the south end of Candrea’s Corner, and it wasn’t even a hitter’s pitch.
“Even though the pitch was elevated, I knew I could get my hands to it,” Stewart said.
Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe was just impressed that it came at the end of a weekend when ASU tried to avoid Stewart.
“It takes a special person to get walked all weekend and then be ready for her moment,” Lowe said.
Unlike Friday night, there were no real surprises in the Wildcats’ starting lineup for the rubber game, but that didn’t mean there weren’t surprises during the game. Once again, they didn’t work out quite as planned.
Adams started for the second straight game. Emma Kavanagh was the starting designated player. Everything else was the same as on Friday.
Adams threw 7.0 innings, but there was a surprise in the sixth inning. Adams left the game for two at-bats. At that point, Adams had given up just three hits and was throwing a shutout. She had also hit two batters and walked one, allowing six baserunners in 5.1 innings.
Still, Adams wasn’t surprised when she was lifted. It was something pitching coach Christian Conrad had discussed with her ahead of time.
“That was just part of Christians plan,” Adams said. “We talk about all the possibilities before games. And I fully trust in his plan, trust in all the other pitchers on the staff. So we were just going with the game plan.”
Adams gave way to freshman Rylie Holder with two on and one out in the top of the sixth. Both inherited runners scored without another out being recorded.
The runs were charged to Adams, who was immediately brought back in with a worse situation than she the one she left. Now, she had runners on the corners with one out and her team’s lead had been cut in half.
It might not have worked out, but Lowe said the plan was built with an eye to weather conditions. She noted that ASU also removed and re-inserted its starter during the game.
“It’s 100 degrees outside, and we wanted to get Jalen a little relief too, just like they did Kenzie Brown,” Lowe said. “But, at the same time, we knew Rylie could roll a double play and she’s gonna come into those games all the time, and I trust her to come into those games all the time. So it was the right decision. We didn’t execute.”
Lowe’s confidence in Holder and the rest of the team comes down to their perseverance.
“Rylie was phenomenal yesterday,” Lowe said. “I mean, I watched her get better yesterday. I watched her work through tough moments, breathe through pressure, and we talked a lot about the tough stuff. We’re going to have to go right through. We’re not going around it. So I saw her in bases loaded situations, lots of runners on, and absolutely executing our game plan.”
Because she left during the inning, Adams wasn’t given any warm-up pitches when she returned to the circle in the top of the sixth. The first batter she faced had a controversial at-bat.
Pinch hitter Ryan Brown came in for ASU. She got into a 1-2 count then hit a ball far to centerfield over the outstretched glove of Regan Shockey. During the live play, it looked like it bounced off the top of the wall and back onto the field. That was how it was ruled by the officials, as well, making it a 2-RBI double that tied the game 4-4 with one out.
The question was whether the ball hit the batter’s eye behind the centerfield wall. ASU’s coaches and ESPN+ color commentator (and former Wildcat pitcher) Kenzie Fowler Quinn thought it did, but Sun Devil head coach Megan Bartlett didn’t challenge the call for an extended time period. The rule book gives her 30 seconds to challenge. Well after that time, she asked the home plate umpire for a challenge but was told it was too late. The call stood.
ASU staff members were under the impression that the call should be automatically reviewed by the officiating crew beginning in the sixth inning, but the NCAA’s explanation of the challenge rule doesn’t indicate that. When the review rule was passed in 2021, it allowed (but did not require) the crew chief to initiate a review beginning in the sixth inning. A head coach could challenge at any point in the game.
The video review rules were changed in 2024. One of the changes allowed any official to initiate a review at any point in the game. Once again, there’s no indication that the officials are required to do so; they are allowed to do so when it is not “properly covered.” The coach can use a challenge at any point in the game but must do it within the 30-second time limit after the play in question.
In the end, Stewart’s 2-run home run in the bottom of the inning made the lost run a moot point. The 2-run shot would have given Arizona a 1-run advantage even if the ASU call had been overturned in the top of the inning.
ASU tried to get something going again in the top of the seventh. Kaylee Pond had a leadoff double and got to third with one out on a flyout. The next two batters went down easily with popups. Game and series over.
Arizona’s head coach was impressed by her team’s ability to find different ways to win when the usual way wasn’t working. Sereniti Trice came into the weekend hitting .523 even after facing the phenomenal pitching staff at Texas Tech. She was 1 for 11 in three games against ASU. Shockey was great on Sunday, but she was 2 for 8 in Friday and Saturday’s games.
“Jenna Sniffen swung the bat,” Lowe said. “I thought Kez [Lucas] had a great weekend. Grace [Jenkins] had a great weekend, In a weekend, honestly, where you don’t see Biddy and Regan get on as much, we stepped up, and that hasn’t happened quite yet. So that feels really good that it doesn’t matter if it’s my turn or somebody else’s.”
Adams ended with the win to improve to 13-4 on the season. She gave up two earned runs on five hits, two walks, and two hit batters. She struck out two. She dropped her ERA back down to 3.22 after seeing it climb over the previous two days.
Holder gave up two earned runs on two hits without recording an out.
Six of Arizona’s nine starting hitters got at least one hit. Seven reached base at least once. The four through seven hitters all had at least one RBI with Stewart’s three leading the way.
Both leadoff hitter Shockey and cleanup hitter Stewart reached base safely every time they stepped into the batter’s box. Shockey was 3 for 3 with a walk. Stewart was 2 for 2 with two walks.
Meika Lauppe took the loss for the Sun Devils despite giving up just one of the six Arizona runs. She threw 1.1 inning and surrendered the one earned run on two hits and one walk.
Kenzie Brown started the game and re-entered later. She gave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks in 4.0 IP. She struck out four.
Former Wildcat Aissa Silva also made an appearance for the Sun Devils. She allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks in 0.2 IP.
Arizona will have its fourth straight game against an in-state opponent when GCU comes to town on Tuesday. The Lopes were the last unbeaten team in Division I this season. They finally lost a game to No. 23 Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Mar. 17. They are now 33-1 overall and 6-0 in the Mountain West.
“They’re fantastic, and they’ve been good for a while, and they’re always a competitive game for us,” Lowe said. “They pitch well, they execute offensively well. So it’s going to be really important to take a day off, get rest on our bodies, but then be ready.”
*This website uses the NFCA poll as the official softball poll. Arizona State was ranked in two polls this week, including the NFCA. It was not ranked by USA Softball.
