The Arizona Wildcats have been successful on the road in recent NCAA postseasons, but they didn’t show much evidence this season that they could rise to the occasion against the best competition away from Hillenbrand. They went 4-9 against RPI top 25 teams in road and neutral games. The postseason magic returned in Durham, NC with a 10-1 defeat of Duke in five innings.
“I’m just really, really proud of the fight we had today against Duke,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe. “They’re a great team,
top to bottom, and I thought we came out playing to win today. I thought yesterday felt a little more like playing not to lose, and today felt like we came out and just stuck to our plan, stuck to our game.”
Arizona dominated in all aspects of the game. The Wildcats outhit the Blue Devils 8-2. They played sparkling defense while Duke had two crucial errors in the first inning. And the coaching staff used the pitchers superbly to keep the host team off-balance while Duke’s attempts to make similar moves blew up in its face.
Arizona ace Jalen Adams got the start and left the game with the lead, but she didn’t get the win. That went to sophomore Jenae Berry, who threw the final 2.2 innings.
“When Jenae is on, she can compete with anybody because she mixes speeds so well,” Lowe said. “She’s got
three different speeds, and her hard stuff was legit today, too, so she was able to keep people off
balance. But I think when she pulls a string on her change up, it’s hard to be able to hammer both
speeds.“
Things went downhill for Duke from the first inning. Two throwing errors by ace Cassidy Curd allowed the Wildcats to take a 2-0 lead on a pair of unearned runs.
Curd went 4.1 innings. She gave up a total of seven runs with five of them earned. She struck out seven, but she also gave up six hits and walked two.
It wasn’t entirely clear why Arizona’s coaches made the pitching change. When asked about such changes, the usual answer is, “We liked the matchups.” It probably had to do with a couple of long outs by Duke towards the end of Adams’ day.
Whatever their data indicated, it was right.
Adams gave up just one earned run in 2.1 innings, although it scored after she left the game and came on one of the few defensive miscues the Wildcats made all day. She allowed two hits and one walk while striking out two.
Duke did seem to be seeing her better in the second and third innings, though. There were a couple of long outs that Arizona centerfielder Regan Shockey made a few steps in front of the wall in the bottom of the second.
“Regan Shockey is the best center fielder in the country, bar none, probably the world right
now, and I don’t say that lightly,“ Lowe said.
Adams returned in the third but walked first batter KK Mathis. A sacrifice then a single put runners on the corners with one out. That ended Adams’ outing, although she kept throwing in the bullpen to stay warm in case she was needed.
Berry stepped in and a run immediately scored. It went on Adams’ stats, but it wasn’t really the fault of either pitcher. Despite there being a runner on third, Arizona catcher Sydney Stewart opted to try to catch the runner trying to steal second with one out.
Fellow senior Tayler Biehl chased the runner back towards first but didn’t turn towards home until it was far too late. The runner from third was almost to the plate, and she got in way before Stewart could try to tag her out.
It could have been disastrous. At the time, it cut Arizona’s lead to 2-1 in the third. Then, Berry walked her first batter. Things just didn’t look promising.
Enter the double play, which has become the staple of the Arizona defense. With runners on first and second, a grounder to third gave Jenna Sniffen plenty of time to step on the bag then throw across to first to end the inning.
“We hunt double plays,” Sniffen said. “Every time we get a runner on, we’re salivating for that double play.”
Arizona got the run back and then some in the fourth. Grace Jenkins, who was the heroine of Arizona’s game on Friday, hit the first pitch she saw back up the middle for a single. That brought up Tele Jennings.
Jennings had just one at-bat on Friday against Marshall. She struck out. In their attempt to use all their resources and try to keep Emma Kavanagh in the offensive game, the coaches lifted Jennings for Kavanagh for the final two at-bats.
Jennings wasn’t going to get lifted this time. Despite facing a left-handed pitcher, the lefty hitter lifted one past the opposite wall. It was a pitch she probably wouldn’t swing at in a perfect world, but Curd was throwing up in the zone and Jennings was waiting for it. The home run scored two and gave Arizona a 4-1 lead.
Things went awry after that. Kavanagh drew a pinch-hit walk while hitting for Kez Lucas. She was still on first when Shockey stepped into the box with two outs. Shockey got the single, but Kavanagh got antsy and left early. A review erased Shockey’s at-bat and Kavanagh recorded the third out in the inning.
It turned out to be for the better. Berry pitched a quick 1-2-3 inning in her first full inning of work. It was aided by a diving catch in left field by Addison Duke as Arizona continued to flash the leather.
Shockey got to lead off the fifth due to the baserunning error in the previous inning. Duke’s defense couldn’t catch up with Shockey’s speed. A bunt single put the leadoff runner aboard.
Sereniti Trice followed with her own infield single to put two on for Stewart. Arizona’s catcher adjusted to what Curd was doing. After struggling with the inside pitch in her previous at-bat, Stewart waited for it this time. She sent it to left field for a third straight single. Bases loaded for the ‘Cats.
That’s when Duke tried to catch the same pitching lightning in a bottle that Arizona did with its pitching change. They brought in Mathis from left field to take over in the circle. While Mathis has the best ERA on the team, it was just her ninth appearance of the season. She was facing bases loaded with no outs and her team already trailing 4-1.
It started poorly. Mathis walked Biehl to force in Arizona’s fifth run. Jenkins’ sacrifice fly drove in the sixth run and brought up Jennings. Arizona’s designated player knocked a double to left field to score another. Arizona now led 7-1. Two more runs would put them in run-rule territory.
It was time for Sniffen. She has had some solid at-bats lately, but they haven’t amounted to much. She had three hits and two walks stretching back to the LSU series that started on Apr. 10.
Saturday had already produced some positives for Sniffen. She worked a walk to lead off the second inning.
This one was no walk. The third baseman sent the 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to score three and put Arizona three defensive outs from the early win.
“Even when we were missing, it seemed like we got right back in it the next time and made the adjustment right away,” Lowe said. “I think that was a really big deal. I thought someone like Tele, her first at bat, she was on everything; failed at the end, but it didn’t matter. She knew she was going to do it the next time. Jenna hits a
ball hard to right field but she doesn’t let it deflate her. She gets up the next time and she hits a home run. I think it’s just that understanding that you’re knocking on the door and you’re right there, and it’s our job with our mentality to just bust right through it.“
Duke needed at least two runs to extend the game, but Arizona’s defensive prowess was on full display in the bottom of the fifth. Biehl was in the center of it all.
The first out was a strong play on a groundout to shortstop. The second was an even better play by Biehl as she dove to snag a liner out of the air. The third was a groundout to first.
Marshall beat Howard to advance to the elimination game against Duke on Saturday evening. Arizona will face the winner of Marshall vs Duke on Sunday morning in the regional final.
The game is scheduled for 9 a.m. MST. A second game will be played if the Wildcats lose the first one. Arizona only needs to win once to advance to Super Regionals, which will likely be in Fayetteville, Ark.
