It was a big day for both teams. No. 19 Arizona softball was holding its senior day and likely last game of the season at home. The Houston Cougars, having been eliminated from the Big 12 Tournament and coming up on their conference bye week, were playing their final game of the season before the calendar even turned to May.
“I don’t know if I love it,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe, noting that it’s even tougher for Houston since most teams don’t want to play out-of-conference during the final
week. “I think it’s kind of cool to have everyone involved [with the conference tournament], and then there’s a true champion at the end of the day. But we’ll see. I mean, this is the first time…it’s going to be done this way, and we’ll probably talk about it. I kind of think it’s nice to have everyone there. I mean, the SEC is doing it with how many teams? I think they’re starting on a Tuesday, because it’s going to take all week long.”
It wasn’t always a pretty outing, but it went Arizona’s way for the third straight day. The Wildcats committed two errors in the field, but they did enough right to defeat the Cougars 15-4 in five innings.
“The goal was to get everybody in the game today,” Lowe said. “And man, like top to bottom, just really good team win—I think team weekend all around, with everybody just doing their job.”
At the beginning, Houston looked more dangerous than it had the previous two games. Part of that was Arizona’s doing, though.
The Cougars took their first lead of the weekend on a two-run home run by Maddie Hartley. It was her Big 12-leading 20th of the season.
Hartley’s home run was a multi-run affair because of a misplay on a grounder off the bat of leadoff hitter Makenna Mitchell. Mitchell made solid contact with the first pitch from Arizona starting pitcher Jenae Berry, but it should have been an easy out for second baseman Sereniti Trice. She rushed the throw and first baseman Kez Lucas had to come off the base to control the ball. It put a runner on for Hartley.
The 2-0 lead didn’t stand up for long. Arizona used three home runs, including the 19th of the year off the bat of Sydney Stewart, to go up 5-2 after one. Tele Jennings and Grace Jenkins also sent the ball over the wall in the first.
It was the last time Stewart would get a pitch to hit. She was intentionally walked all three times after that first at-bat. Her three intentional walks in the game made it six IBB and seven total walks in the three-game series. At some points, she inched closer to the edge of the box, hoping one of the intentional balls would get within her reach.
“Some of them were a little iffy,” Stewart said. “Some of them were close. So, you know, anything I get my swing off on, but at the end of the day, just gotta take the walks, take what they can give you.”
The Wildcats put five runs up in each of the first three innings. While Stewart wasn’t allowed to do damage with her bat for most of the game, she still ended the day 1 for 1 with 3 walks, 3 runs scored, and 3 RBI. She raised her batting average to .431.
Houston had to pick its poison, though. With Jennings, Biehl, and Jenkins behind Stewart, there were plenty of opportunities for that trio.
Jennings went 3 for 4 with a HR, 2 runs scored, and 5 RBI. Biehl was 1 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. Jenkins went 3 for 3 with 2 HR, a double, 5 RBI, and 2 runs scored.
It was yet another strong performance for Jennings since she began earning everyday at-bats in late March. She ended the game with a .371 average. For Lowe, it goes back to long before the at-bats started coming.
“The most important part of her progression has been staying the course in the beginning of the season,” Lowe said. “I think a lot of people would have tanked at the beginning of the season mentally, just not feeling—like I’m not getting my opportunity. But she didn’t. She stayed the course, and she got better as the season went on, and that’s, quite frankly, what our whole team has done, and it’s why you’re seeing people be successful in their moments. It’s why we’re seeing the whole team cheer for those people when they get their moments. It’s everybody wanting the best for each other, and that is an uplifting feeling.”
Jennings herself notes how important that uplifting feeling has been to her improvement since transferring to Arizona this year.
“I think the biggest difference is just having coaches that believe in me, the teammates, just the environment I’m in has been really instrumental to where I am today,” Jennings said. “The girls who are putting extra work, pushing others to do extra work also, and then everyone’s just cheering for each other.”
She takes a lot from watching and hitting behind Stewart, who developed into one of the most feared hitters in the country during the last two years at Arizona. Both of them have credited hitting coach Amber Freeman with making them better players.
“We’ve had many conversations just about then to now,” Jennings said. “And we talk a lot just me being behind her. And then I think just, again, what this environment has. And Coach Ber, she’s amazing. The amount of work she puts into her job is insane. And she just has so much love for the girls, and you can really feel it.”
The environment has had a big impact on Jenkins in her one year at Arizona, as well. While she was already known as a dangerous hitter, she’s learned a lot of other things since becoming a Wildcat, including how to live in the high-pressure environment of Arizona softball.
“I think thicker skin,” Jenkins said. “Also, understand that we have a really incredible fan base here, and so at the end of the day, just taking it almost with a grain of salt, but at the same time taking it with like, momentum, because it’s like, okay, people believe in me. Obviously, people want to see me succeed.”
Lowe credits the growth of the players not just to the coaches but to the leadership of the players themselves. She especially noted how seniors Biehl and Stewart and junior Regan Shockey brought the team together after a major roster turnover in the offseason.
“I think this summer was probably a turning point for us,” Lowe said. “I think Tayler, Syd Stew, and Regan, they wanted it to be a certain way, and they decided that they were extremely proud to be Wildcats. They knew what it meant to be Wildcats, and they were going to lead a group and show them the way. And I think you’re seeing what they did, diving in when it was hard and sticky, and, you know, everybody had their opinion about it, and they chipped away every single day. And let me tell you, the fall, we put our heads down, and we just freaking worked, and it was some of the most fun we had at practice. And I think you’re seeing that show up now, just the joy they have for the game and each other and appreciating the moment and playing the game the right way while still doing the tough things, holding each other accountable. But when you’ve built that respect that you have for your leadership, it’s easier to do that, and you’re just seeing a team top to bottom that respects each other, wants the best for each other, and is truly proud to be just Wildcats.”
Almost everyone on the team got an opportunity to cheer for each other. Although it was senior day, it wasn’t just the seniors who got their chances in what is likely the final game at Hillenbrand this year. Eighteen members of the 19-player roster got on the field in some capacity. Only senior ace Jalen Adams didn’t make an appearance, and she warmed up on at least one occasion in case she was needed.
Perhaps the biggest demonstration of waiting your turn and getting a chance was senior reserve Camila Zepeda. The Tucson native got her first at-bat as a Wildcat on her senior day. She hit a hard liner back to Houston pitcher London Park, who had to grab it out of the air to avoid being hit by it.
“Should have been a hit, but she made a good play on it,” Lowe said. “But she hit it on the screws, and it was a quality at-bat, for sure.”
Arizona used three of its four pitchers. Jenae Berry got the start, but she allowed solid contact to multiple Houston hitters and had to work around an error in the first inning. The Cougars put up two runs.
After the Wildcats responded with five in the bottom of the first, Berry came back out and walked the first batter. That ended her day.
Berry threw 33 pitches to eight batters in one full inning of work. She allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits, a walk, and an error behind her.
Rylie Holder relieved Berry with one on and no outs in the top of the second. She threw three innings of two-hit shutout ball. She also walked two. She ended the weekend with 8.0 IP without giving up a run. It lowered her ERA to 4.48.
Arizona entered the top of the fifth leading 15-2. Sophomore Sarah Wright took over in her first appearance since Mar. 20 against ASU. She gave up two earned runs on three hits.
Some Wildcats aren’t ready for it to be over despite their eligibility winding down. Stewart, Jenkins, and Kiki Escobar will all return next year as graduate managers.
It offers different opportunities for each of them. Stewart is already assured a place in the AUSL as a professional. The league also announced that Jenkins is part of the reserve pool, which is a group of players who step in to play when others are injured or away for national team duties. Former Wildcat pitcher/infielder Miranda Stoddard got some time on the field as a reserve player last season. For those two, they get access to training while bringing their experience back to Arizona to help the existing players.
As for Escobar, Lowe sees a possible future in coaching for her, calling her the “right hand woman” of infield coach Lauren Lappin.
“Kiki could come in and probably run all of the infield drills herself,” Lowe said. “And so it’s just, it’s awesome when people want to hang around and be part of it, because they believe in it so much and and they’re not ready to let it go yet.”
There’s still more to be accomplished now, though. Arizona winds up the regular season at Utah next week. After that, it’s on to the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA postseason. They’re hoping to get at least one more week at home.
“These fans in Tucson are absolutely incredible,” Jenkins said. “I mean, they show up every single time, and it would be awesome to host a regional for them. It really would. So that’s our goal these next couple weekends.”
