No. 21 Arizona softball keeps the Bears at bay to open series

It’s been one rainy spring around the world of college softball. The weather in the Bay Area threatened to disrupt games between No. 21 Arizona and No. 19 California, but it stayed just nice enough for the top 25 matchup to proceed. Arizona took advantage with a 9-5 victory to open the road series.

Arizona’s offense came through while defense and pitching was up and down. The Wildcats got 16 hits and three walks off the Golden Bears’ pitchers. After striking out with regularity last weekend against Washington, UA had just two strikeouts to open the series.

Aissa Silva got the win to improve to 13-3 this year. She gave up five hits and two earned runs. She walked two and hit a batter. She also struck out two.

Miranda Stoddard started the game for Arizona. She went 2.1 innings, giving up two hits and three runs (two earned). She struck out one.

While the defense, led by Tayler Biehl, Regan Shockey, and Blaise Biringer, made some spectacular plays, they also committed two errors.

A big decision in the bottom of the third didn’t play out the way the Wildcats hoped. After giving up the home run and two long, loud outs in the bottom of the second and third innings, the Arizona coaches decided it was time to remove Stoddard.

Lefthanded sophomore Silva relieved Stoddard. Silva ran into problems, some of her making and some not.

Silva gave up a single to Tatum Anzaldo. A throwing error by Biringer allowed Anzaldo to motor all the way to third base. Silva walked Kaylee Pond to put runners on the corners, and Holly Medina went in to run for Pond.

On the first pitch to Tianna Bell, Medina took second. Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe challenged the play, arguing that Medina left early. Television reviews indicated that Medina did, indeed, leave early. Both the replays and the commentary provided arguments for that.

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The officials didn’t agree. They allowed the play to stand, giving Cal two runners in scoring position with one out.

The next swing of the bat was a double down the right field line, scoring both runners. Medina was the run that pulled Cal even with the Wildcats 5-5. There was still only one out and a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the third.

Arizona showed resolve. Silva allowed a two-out triple in the fourth, walked Pond in the fifth, hit Hope Alley in the sixth, and surrendered two hits in the seventh, but she threw up zeroes in each inning.

Cal’s pitchers couldn’t match her. The Wildcats went down in order in the fourth, but they struck again in the fifth.

Carlie Scupin got things going with a leadoff walk. Biehl doubled in pinch runners Jasmine Perezchica and Paige Dimler to give Arizona a 7-5 lead.

A walk by Kaiah Altmeyer forced another pitching change for Cal. Dakota Kennedy wasn’t bothered, loading the bases on a bunt. Shockey’s RBI single drove in Perezchica to make it 8-5.

The Wildcats put one more run on the board in the top of the seventh. Emily Schepp led off with a double then advanced to third on a Biehl groundout. Altmeyer knocked her in with a single back to the pitcher. It was the only run Arizona got in the final inning, but it was more than enough.

The Bears used three pitchers. Freshman Randi Roelling went just one inning. She gave up six hits and five earned runs. Sophomore Ashanti McDade took the loss with five hits and three earned runs in 3.1 IP. Haylei Archer finished it up, giving up one earned run on five hits.

The two teams meet again on Saturday, Mar. 23 at Pac-12 Networks. Arizona improved to 21-7-1 overall and 4-3 in Pac-12 play. Cal is now 22-8 and 1-6.