(Tucson, AZ) Throughout this series Arizona has dominated in every way from hitting to pitching and everything in between. The Cats have outscored the Devils high powered offense sixteen runs to zero. On the other side of the ball the Wildcats pitching staff has kept ASU searching for answers all series long as they gave up four total hit and have walked four batters while striking out twelve Devils.
Arizona had their ace in the circle Taylor McQuillin who shutout ASU with precision in the series opener Friday night. It was much of the same for McQuillin through the first three innings as she only allowed one hit and punching out five Sun Devils along the way. The key for McQuillin in those first couple of innings was how she was working the zone and changing up her location of her pitches.
Unlike the last two games, Sunday the Arizona offense struggled to get things going throughout the lineup. Through three innings the Cats managed to scratch across one hit but left four runners on base. The ASU pitching staff found their way in the series that has been a complete nightmare.
In the fourth inning Arizona finally got into a rhythm at the plate collecting three hits. It started with a lead-off walk to Malia Martinez, who later was able to take second base on a wild pitch. After T. Statman singled, the Cats had two runners on with Rylee Pierce at the the plate. Pierce came through with a single into left field scoring Martinez to give Arizona the 1-0 lead.
Arizona hit balls hard but right at the Devils defense who were positioned perfectly.
The Cats got a more offense out of Pierce in the sixth inning as she hit her third homerun of the season blasting the ball over the center field wall just out of reach of the centerfielder’s out stretched glove. Zona was up 2-0 and gave the Cats some breathing room headed into the final inning.
McQuillin was rock solid all game long with some help from her defense making diving stops and keeping the ASU hitters off base.
The Sun Devils eventually made some noise in the seventh inning getting two baserunners on base and their best hitter up at-bat, Maddi Hackbarth. She had gone hitless in the first two game of the series. McQuillin got Hackbarth to pop-up to shortstop Jesse Harper. McQuillin got out of the jam to shutout the Sun Devils as she did in the first game.
McQuillin finished the series with fifteen strikeouts, three walks and only four hits in the two games pitched. The Wildcat’s pitching staff racked up nineteen strikeouts and allowed only six hits in the three-game series. It was the a stellar effort for the pitching staff.
Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics
The Wildcats put it all together in this series by shutting out the nation’s number one offense.
Arizona outscored Sparky 18-0, the first time in history of this series the Wildcats have shutout their in-state rivals.
The Cats are clicking at all cylinders right now during this nine-game winning streak.
Arizona is back in action at home Wednesday when they take on the UTEP Miners in a double header. The first game starts at 2 p.m. with the second game at 4p.m. It will be another busy day on campus with Arizona Women’s basketball playing at McKale Center in the WNIT Final Four against the TCU Horned Frogs. Tip off is at 6:30 p.m.
