(SALT LAKE CITY, UT) It snowed on Friday night in Salt Lake City. It couldn’t cool off Arizona’s red-hot offense, which plated a season-most 22 runs on 19 hits on Saturday in a 22-1, five-inning victory to clinch the series vs. Utah.
Arizona’s 22 runs are its most since defeating Stanford 22-5 on April 26, 2014 and tie a school record for runs in a road conference game. The 21-run margin of victory is its fourth highest in school history, largest in a conference game since defeating Stanford 25-0 on April 14, 1995 and its largest ever on the road.
The Cats plated their 22 runs on 19 hits, their most since a 20-hit outing vs. LIU Brooklyn on Feb. 25, 2017. The 19 hits are the most in a conference games since the Cats tied a school-record with 22 hits on March 28, 1998 vs. Oregon.
Five of Arizona’s 19 hits were home runs, as the Cats added to their NCAA lead and surpassed last season’s 59-game total. Jessie Harper, Dejah Mulipola (two), Malia Martinez and Izzy Pacho’s home runs gave the 2019 Wildcats 76 in 38 games this season.
Harper’s second-inning grand slam, the first of three consecutive home runs that started a 12-run second inning for the Cats, gave her an NCAA most 21 homers. She has homered in each of UA’s last four games.
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Martinez’s home run was her 10th of the season. The Wildcats entered the day as the only team in the country with three players with double-digit homers; they now have four players with 10-or-more homers.
Mulipola homered twice in the game, giving her 16 for the season. It marks her fifth multi-homer game of the season.
On her 20th birthday, Jenna Kean went 3-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored, her first three-hit game of the season and a career-high tying RBI total.
Alyssa Denham (9-2) earned the win for the Wildcats; she allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts over 3.0 innings in the start. Gina Snyder finished the game with two perfect innings of relief.
The Wildcats (31-7, 11-0 Pac-12) extended their season-long winning streak to 13 games with the victory and won their seventh straight Pac-12 series, dating back to last season. Arizona eyes its fourth straight sweep on Sunday when it meets the Utes (13-23, 2-6) at 11 a.m. MST in the series finale.
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KEY INNINGS
Top 1: Arizona took advantage of a bases-loaded error with two out in the top of the first that scored two Wildcat runs. (2-0, UA)
Bottom 1: The Wildcats’ Pac-12 scoreless inning streak ended at 34 straight when Ally Dickman hit a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the first. (2-1, UA)
Top 2: The Cats struck for 12 runs on 11 hits in the top of the second to bust open the game. The Cats loaded the bases for Jessie Harper, who hit a grand slam, the first of three straight home runs for Arizona. Dejah Mulipola and Malia Martinez followed with solo shots to put the Cats up 8-1. Later in the inning, Jenna Kean singled in a run before Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza tripled home two more. Reyna Carranco singled in a run to put the Cats up 12-1 before Malia Martinez picked up her second and third RBI of the inning to give the Cats a 14-1 lead. (14-1, UA)
Top 3: Arizona added five more runs in the third. Jenna Kean hit her second career triple to plate two more runs, giving her a career-high-tying three on her birthday and then scored on a Palomio-Cardoza groundout. Dejah Mulipola followed with her second home run of the game, a two-run shot. (19-1, UA)
Top 5: The Cats added a run in the top of the fifth when Ivy Davis, who entered the game at shortstop in the fourth, raced home on a wild pitch to score UA’s 20th run of the game. Izzy Pacho later blasted a two-run homer to put the Cats up three touchdowns. (22-1, UA)
UP NEXT
The Cats and the Utes wrap up the series on Sunday at 11 a.m. MST.
Courtesy of Arizona Communication services
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