(Tucson, AZ) Kim Doss
Strong pitching from the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ Amber Fiser and strong winds combined to keep the ball in the park Wednesday night, as the Arizona softball team played a one-off game to close the non-conference season. Despite a strong outing by Arizona freshman pitcher Alyssa Denham, the Wildcats were unable to put any runs across in the 1-0 loss.
The two pitching staffs combined for eight strikeouts each, with Fiser pitching all eight innings with eight strikeouts, three walks and a wild pitch. She gave up five hits, but was able to keep the Wildcats from pushing a run across. Denham had seven strikeouts in seven innings to go along with four hits and one walk. Junior left-hander Taylor McQuillin came in to pitch the eighth inning. She recorded one strikeout while taking the loss on an unearned run in the extra frame.
Both teams’ hitters faced a challenge all evening with strong winds causing balls to hang up in the air. The defense also struggled with the difficult conditions, as Minnesota committed one error and Arizona committed two. Foul balls were difficult to judge, extending several at-bats.
Arizona had its best scoring opportunities in the third, fourth and seventh innings. In the third, hits by Alyssa Palomino and Jessie Harper and a walk by Dejah Mulipola loaded the bases with two outs. Fiser was able to end the inning without any damage, working a strikeout from Malia Martinez after falling behind 3-1.
In the fourth inning, the Wildcats again put their leadoff hitter on base when designated player Tamara Statman drew a walk. Pinch runner Jenna Kean was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Carli Campbell, putting a runner in scoring position with one out. However, Kean strayed too far off base on an infield single from Ashleigh Hughes and was thrown out. Hughes stole second to again put a runner in scoring position, but Palomino popped out to third base to end the inning.
In the final inning of regulation, Arizona once again got their leadoff hitter on base by way of an infield single from Campbell. Hughes’ sacrifice bunt put Campbell in scoring position. An intentional walk to Palomino put runners on first and second. After Reyna Carranco struck out, Harper hit a fly ball that hung up in the wind and turned into an out behind second base.
Denham started the top of the eighth inning, but was replaced in the circle after giving up a single to Minnesota center fielder Ellee Jensen. The slap hit stayed up in the air for an extended period, allowing Jensen to beat Denham’s throw to first. McQuillin relieved Denham with a runner on first and no outs. On McQuillin’s first pitch to MaKenna Partain, a passed ball allowed Jensen to reach second base. Partain worked the count full, then put a hard hit ball on the ground between first and second. The ball passed between Carranco’s legs, allowing Jensen to come around to score the first run of the game. McQuillin limited the damage to the single unearned run by sitting down the next three Golden Gophers batters.
The Wildcat hitters were unable to put anything together in the bottom of the eighth, going down in order with two strikeouts to end the game.
As Coach Mike Candrea noted after the game, Arizona had many opportunities throughout, leaving nine runners on base. He credited Fiser with pitching a strong game, but also pointed out that the Wildcats’ hitters swung at some bad pitches.
Arizona will begin PAC-12 play on Friday when Utah comes to town. Candrea believes that the pre-conference slate prepared the Wildcats for the tough conference season. Fans can find out for themselves Friday night at 7 pm at Hillenbrand.
