(Tempe, AZ)— Arizona senior pitcher Alyssa Denham shut out the nation’s No. 12 team ras the fifth-ranked Wildcats needed just five innings to defeat Tennessee, 8-0, on Sunday evening in the Kajikawa Classic.
Denham struck out four in the complete-game effort, pitching out of some tough situations to secure the shutout win for Arizona. She allowed five hits and walked two in the game.
Offensively, the Wildcats used a pair of big innings to overwhelm the Volunteers, scoring five in the first and then walking off with three in the fifth. The Cats took advantage of six UT walks and a pair of errors and scored their eight runs on just six hits. Ivy Davis had a pair of RBI singles in the game while Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza had a hit and three RBI in the contest.
Arizona was excellent defensively in the game, highlighted by freshman left fielder Isabella Dayton, who made a diving catch in the first and then threw a runner out at the plate in the second for her first career assist.
The win was Arizona’s first run-rule win vs. a ranked opponent since defeating No. 17 Arizona State by the same score, 8-0 in five innings, on both March 29 and March 30, 2019.
Arizona improved to 5-0 on the weekend, including three run-rule wins. The Cats now return home to host the Hillenbrand Invitational (Feb. 14-16).
SCORING INNINGS
Bottom 1: Arizona sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the bottom of the first, needing just one hit to do so. The Cats took advantage of two errors and five walks in the frame. Ivy Davis had the lone hit for the Cats, a two-out RBI single up the middle. (5-0, UA)
Bottom 5: Marissa Schuld ripped a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth, UA’s second hit since the first inning. Hannah Martinez followed with a single to left to put two on for Isabella Dayton, who advanced runners to second and third for Palomino-Cardoza, who ended the game with a single to center field.
Press Release courtesy of Arizona Athletics/Danny Martinez
