Arizona softball earned a walk-off win over ASU Saturday night, though not the kind the Wildcats may have been expecting through the first part of the game.
Arizona jumped out to an 8-0 lead, then allowed the Sun Devils to claw all the way back before Regan Shockey delivered a walk-off single in the seventh to give the UA a 9-8 win and even the series at one apiece.
Freshman Kez Lucas broke out of a long slump with a three-hit, three RBI day while another freshman, Rylie Holder, overcame a shaky relief
appearance to earn the win in the circle, but the Wildcats’ pitching was tested for a fourth straight game.
Arizona (22-7, 4-2) jumped out to a second inning lead when Lucas hit a two-run double down the left field line for her first hit since February 27th against Long Beach State. The UA brought home a third run in the inning on a ground out by Jenna Sniffen.
Arizona added five runs in the third. Tayler Biehl got the rally going on a single that scored Sereniti Trice thanks to an ASU throwing error. Biehl advanced to third on the error, then scored on a passed ball. Lucas delivered again with an RBI single that scored one. A two-run double by Duke Addison brought the lead to 8-0.
Aissa Silva, a former Wildcat, relieved ASU’s Meika Lauppa in the third.
Jalen Adams got the start for the Wildcats and made it through the first three innings seamlessly. Trouble broke out in the fourth, however, when the Sun Devils tagged Arizona for five runs. Brooklyn Ulrich’s two-run homer highlighted ASU’s rally.
Holder replaced Adams with one out in the inning and induced a pair of groundouts, the first of which brought home a run.
Things got worse in the fifth. ASU cut the deficit to 8-6 when with runners on first and second and nobody out, Biehl misplayed a grounder by Emily Schepp, allowing a run to score. The Sun Devils made it a one-run game a batter later on an RBI single by Tiare HoChing.
A walk loaded the bases with nobody out. From there, Holder beared down, retiring the next three batters without conceding another run.
However, ASU tied the game in the sixth on a leadoff homer by Ashleigh Meja. That would be the last baserunner Holder allowed.
Arizona’s offense went silent in the middle to late innings, struggling to make good contact against Silva. The Wildcats broke through in the seventh by loading the bases for Shockey, who was just 1 for 7 in the series. On a 1-0 count, Shockey hit a breaking ball that bounced over the ASU shortstop’s glove, scoring Kiki Escobar to give the Wildcats the win.
“I think every single person in that dugout before I ever in the batter’s circle gave me a high five and told me I could do it and they would have nobody else,” Shockey told ESPN+. “It honestly makes me emotional because the sisterhood of them. They were all through me. That was not me at all.
“I was just walking up there to do my job. I’m a slapper, and I’m gonna bounce the ball. That’s all I could do for my team. They did a great job putting up all the runs.”
After dropping a 16-5 contest to ASU Friday night, Arizona was determined to battle back after the Sun Devils tied the game up, Shockey said of her teammates.
“That was our championship inning,” Shockey said. “You fight all seven no matter what. You don’t give up at any point of the game. That’s what this team did. We just kept fighting, throwing punches and believing in each other.”
Arizona will go for the series win at 12 p.m. PST Sunday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
