(Tucson, AZ) Kim Doss
Last year at this time, Aleah Craighton was a junior outfielder for the University of Louisiana-Lafayette working on first team All American honors by putting up a slash of .345/.536/.779, including 18 home runs and 58 RBI. Her teammate, Alyssa Denham, was putting together a season that landed her the title of Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year with a 15-2 record and 2.27 ERA in the circle. Today, they both played important roles in leading the 11th-ranked Arizona Wildcats to a series sweep of the 22nd-ranked California Golden Bears.
After being swept in Seattle by the #1 Washington Huskies last weekend, the Wildcats returned to Tucson hoping to regain momentum and confidence. They established that in the first two games of the series, taking Thursday’s game by a score of 3-0 and Friday’s nine-inning affair 3-2. The icing on the cake would be a sweep, and Arizona was able to pull that out on a warm Saturday afternoon.
The extra inning game on Friday night required unexpected heroism in the form of a barely-over-the-fence homerun in the bottom of the 9th by center fielder Ashleigh Hughes. In contrast, Saturday’s contest was a steady affair that saw the ‘Cats execute the principles Coach Mike Candrea identified as vital to future success. While Candrea said that Denham was the impact player of the game, he spoke highly of the team’s ability to string quality at-bats together.
Although Denham had a strong performance, it wasn’t meant to be her day in the circle. When the game started, freshman right-handed pitcher Hanah Bowen took the ball for Arizona.
“We had decided we were going to start Bowen because of her screwball and [Cal’s] lefties,” Candrea said. “It didn’t work out that way.”
Bowen’s struggles began with the first batter, when Cal shortstop Jazmyn Jackson was able to leg out an infield single to third base. Second baseman Lindsay Rood followed with a double to the gap in right center, putting runners on second and third. Left fielder Bradie Fillmore stepped in and gave Cal a 2-0 lead with an RBI double. There were still no outs.
Bowen looked like she might be settling down when she was able to get Kobie Pettis and Cameron Kondo to fly out. Unfortunately, she was not able to get the final out. With a runner still in scoring position, Mikayla Coelho hit the third double of the inning to score Fillmore. Seeing his young starter struggling, Candrea lifted Bowen with two outs.
“I was going to be ready if my name was called, and I was going to do the best job I could do at fulfilling any role that may have been,” Denham said after the game. “Whether that’s on the field, cheering as loud as I can in the dugout, I’m going to fulfill my role as much as I can.”
The plan was for Denham to fulfill her role cheering in the dugout, but the early struggles made it necessary for her to step in and pick up her teammate. She did exactly what was asked, facing 19 hitters and getting 19 outs. The only hit she allowed all afternoon–a single in the sixth inning–was wiped out by a double play turned behind her.
“She came in and did a hell of a job,” Candrea said. “Sometimes you have these breakout moments as players, and I thought today was one for her.”
That job started with a three-pitch strikeout of Cal first baseman Taurie Pogue to end the inning. It was the first of three strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work.
Denham’s work in the circle was backed by a strong defensive effort. In addition to turning a double play, Arizona avoided the errors that have cropped up in several recent games.
The team was able to rely on Denham’s pitching performance and their defense to keep Cal’s offense in check. To turn things around and dig out of a 0-3 hole, though, they would need the offense to come alive.
Ashleigh Hughes got the ball rolling, leading off the bottom half of the inning by reaching on a throwing error by Rood. She promptly stole second base, giving Arizona a runner in scoring position. Alyssa Palomino took advantage of the RBI opportunity with a single to left. The run by Hughes cut the Cal lead to 3-1.
Zoe Conley and the Cal defense pulled together to limit the damage. Arizona shortstop Jesse Harper followed Palomino’s RBI single by hitting into a 4-3 double play. Her ground ball to Rood allowed the second baseman to tag Palomino, then throw on to first for the second out. A strikeout by Dejah Mulipola put an end to the inning.
The Arizona offense built on the first inning success by adding in the long ball. Craighton got the power game started to lead off the second inning. After working the count full, she hit a no-doubter to straight center field, making it a one-run game.
After struggling for much of the early season, both Candrea and Craighton felt that this weekend was a breakout for her and the team. Craighton said that she had been starting her swing late, so her timing had been off.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit, but we’ve been working on a few things, and I’m trying to get my swing back to where it was,” Craighton said. “So, I think this weekend was kind of like a breakout.”
After using the home run to narrow the gap, the ‘Cats turned to small ball to even it up. Malia Martinez kept the rally going by working a walk, then advancing into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from T Statman. Carli Campbell followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Martinez. Conley was able to induce outs off the bats of Jenna Kean and Hughes, but not before Arizona had drawn even.
The bottom of the third inning saw more of the same from the Wildcats. Palomino got her second RBI of the game with a leadoff home run, giving Arizona their first lead. This put an end to Conley’s day. She was replaced in the circle by Kamalani Dung.
Dung did not fare much better than her teammate. Dung lost a battle with Jessie Harper, giving up a double to left field on her ninth pitch. After a one-out walk to Craighton, Dung allowed an RBI single to the right side off the bat of Malia Martinez.
Dung appeared to be on her way to limiting the damage to the two runs scored when pinch runner Jaycee Lindley was caught trying to steal second. However, Arizona was able to put another one on the board with a two-out single from Statman. By the time Campbell grounded out to end the third inning, Arizona had doubled up on Cal and was leading 6-3.
After a quiet fourth inning, the Wildcat offense showed up again in the bottom of the fifth. As in their other big innings, things started off with a home run. Harper’s 12th of the season sailed over the wall in right field and bounced off the scoreboard, putting the Wildcats up 7-3. Arizona failed to score again, but sent six to the plate in the inning.
Arizona didn’t need one player to be the hero on Saturday, although Denham certainly set the tone. Instead, they put together a complete team effort. Six different Wildcats had at least one RBI. Three hit solo home runs, and three had multi-hit games. They sent at least four batters to the plate in five of six innings, with six or more taking a turn in three of those innings.
“This whole week, we worked on different approaches in different counts. So, with that, I feel like we all had a set plan and we all came together,” Craighton said.
They will look to build on the effort when they visit the fifth-ranked Oregon Ducks next weekend. Arizona returns to HIllenbrand to face third-ranked UCLA on Friday, April 13th at 7:30 pm.
