(Tempe, AZ) Fifth-ranked Arizona swept day 1 of the 2020 season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, run-ruling Kansas, 11-1 in five innings in game 1, before defeating Seattle University, 4-3 in game 2.
Mariah Lopez picked up both victories in her UA debut, pitching the distance in a complete-game effort vs. Kansas before entering to pitch the final 2.2 scoreless innings vs. Seattle.
Arizona is back in action on Saturday in the Kajikawa Classic; it will meet Portland State at 9 a.m. and Western Michigan at 11:30 a.m. MST. Both games will be at Arizona State’s Farrington Stadium and be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Game 1: Arizona 11, Kansas 1 (5 innings)
The Wildcats picked up where they left off a season ago when they finished second in the NCAA in home runs, blasting three homers, three of UA’s nine hits in its 11-1, five-inning victory over Kansas to open the 2020 season.
Jessie Harper, Izzy Pacho and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza hit homers in the game. For Harper, who led the nation with 29 a season ago, it was the 67th in her Wildcat career, 25 shy of Katiyana Mauga’s Arizona and Pac-12 record 92 and 28 shy of Oklahoma’s Lauren Chamberlain’s NCAA record 95.
Mariah Lopez, who transferred to Arizona from Oklahoma, picked up her first Wildcat win, allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts and a walk in the complete-game effort.
Pacho and Palomino-Cardoza led the Wildcats with two hits apiece while Harper drove in a game-high four. Harper also drew a career-most three walks in four plate appearances.
Arizona took advantage of a pair of walks and a pair of wild pitches early in the first inning, utilizing the speed of freshman Janelle Meono, who raced home on a pitch to the backstop for the first Wildcat run of the season. Malia Martinez had a fly ball caught at the wall, falling short of the first homer of the season, but good for a sacrifice fly that put the Wildcats up a pair after the first inning.
The Wildcat offense plated four more in the second. UA loaded the bases with nobody out for the top of the order. Reyna Carranco brought a run home with a groundout and then Jessie Harper followed with a three-run homer, her first of the season.
The Jayhawks plated a run in the fourth on a solo homer.
In the fifth, Arizona scored five runs to earn the mercy walk-off. Pacho led off the inning with a home run on the frame’s first pitch. Reyna Carranco followed with an RBI single before Palomino-Cardoza ended the game with a three-run opposite-field shot to win the game.
Game 2: Arizona 4, Seattle University 3
Malia Martinez hit an RBI double in the top of the seventh inning, her third hit of the game, to break a 3-3 tie and lead the Wildcats to a narrow 4-3 win over 2019 WAC Champion Seattle University in Friday’s nightcap at the Tempe Sports Complex.
Arizona plated three runs in the bottom of the second inning, but the Redhawks drew even with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Mariah Lopez entered in the circle and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings to earn her second win of the day.
Lopez fanned five in 2.2 innings of work, allowing just one hit in the process. She replaced starter Alyssa Denham, who allowed three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 4.1 innings.
Arizona plated three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the early lead. Izzy Pacho, who had two hits including a homer in game 1, picked up where she left off with an RBI double to open the scoring. Hanah Bowen and Janelle Meono added RBI singles to put the Cats up three.
Seattle clawed back with one in the fourth and two in the fifth to tie the game.
After stranding two runners in the sixth, the Cats broke the tie in the sixth. Jessie Harperled off with a walk and then moved into scoring position on an Alyssa Palomino-Cardozasacrifice bunt. Malia Martinez doubled home Harper to give the Wildcats the 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, A leadoff single and sacrifice bunt put the tying run in scoring position, but Lopez fanned two batters around an intentional walk to strand the winning runs on base and give the Wildcats the 4-3 victory.
Press Release courtesy of Arizona Communication Services/Danny Martinez
