(Tucson, AZ) The University of Texas-El Paso came to Tucson at the wrong time. Arizona had won nine straight and coming off the month of March going 17-2.
Marissa Schuld got a rare start in the circle and set down the Miners in order to start the game.
In the bottom half of the inning, Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza slapped a lead off double to left and instantly the Cats were in business.Reyna Carranco followed with a hard grounder up the middle that was gloved by Miner’s freshman Cathey Pate at shortstop but the speed of Carranco legged it out moving Palomino-Cardoza to third. Jesse Harper stepped up and clubbed her eighteenth home run and three RBI. The Wildcats struck early 3-0.
With two out UTEP senior pitcher Julia Wright got herself back in trouble with consecutive walks with two out but struck out sophomore Ivy Davis without further damage.
The Miners came in with a less than stellar 10-24 record and 4-8 in Conference USA.
The red hot Cats came in leading the nation in home runs at 1.85 per game. On the defensive side of the ball, Zona’s pitching staff hadn’t allowed a run in four games and has a 1.36 ERA.
In the top of the second inning, Arizona got the lead off batter on with crisp single to center field by sophomore and Tucson Native Carly Campbell. Palomino-Cardoza doubled her in to make it 4-0 Cats. Harper, who jacked one out in the first inning got her fourth RBI with a solid single to left field scoring a sliding Palomino-Cardoza for run number five. Malia Martinez put the game in a run rule situation with a three run long ball over the left field wall to up the score to 8-0. Later in the inning with two out, the bases were loaded for Palomino-Cardoza who cleared the bases with a grand slam to straightaway center and this game was ugly early. To make matters worse, Junior Malia Martinez ripped a three run double into right center field for another three RBI at bat. Arizona scored thirteen runs in the inning.
Through the entire twelve run inning, UTEP didn’t change pitchers. The Miners got a bit of redemption when they scored an unearned run in the top of the third to end Arizona’s scoreless at four games and two innings. End of two and a half innings Zona had a 16-1 lead.
Wildcat Coach Mike Candrea called off the dogs in the third inning emptying his bench to give the underclassmen some game reps.
Arizona got the run back they gave up when freshman and Ironwood Ridge alum Izzy Pacho singled through the right side scoring fellow freshman Riley Kuderca to make it 17-1.
Arizona Senior Gina Snyder came in the fifth inning for mop up duty as the game ended in a run rule 17-1 score.
The main focus for Candrea and the Cats was to get some needed game time for the subs and keep them sharp for the second half of the conference season. Mission accomplished as Schuld pitched a well rounded game. One intriguing surprise was that she only had one strikeout considering the gaudy numbers she put up last year in high school.
The Cats face the Miners in the nightcap of the doubleheader as the Wildcat Women prepare to play in the WNIT Final Four at McKale Center at 6:30 pm. Lots of action on campus today.
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