(Tucson, AZ) Arizona with a deep and stacked lineup headed into their own regional as the hosts.
The first opponent was the Ivy League Champs, the Crimson from Harvard University. This highly regarded institution also has a very good athletic department.
Taylor McQuillin started in the circle setting the first batter down, but a pitch that was grooved down the middle was taken out of the yard in center by the Crimson’s Erin Lockhart much to the surprise of the sellout crowd at Hillenbrand Stadium. The Cats trailed after a half inning 1-0.
In the bottom off the inning, Jessie Harper singled in the hole between shortstop and third with one out. Malia Martinez it into a force play. Catcher Dejah Mulipola singled in the same hole at Harper and the Cats had two on with two out but Rylee Pierce grounded out to end the inning.
The late start at 9:21 PM may have been a factor early as McQuillin didn’t look particularly sharp and made a fielding error on a comeback grounder that she bobbled and threw wildly to first to allow the runner to advance to second. A wild pitch moved the runner to third base, followed by a walk. Arizona got out of the inning after a trip to the circle by pitching coach Taryne Mowatt to settle down McQuillin.
Hannah Bowen got the Wildcats started in the bottom of the second with a one out single. “Peanut” Martinez forced Bowen at second on a fielder’s choice behind second. Carli Campbell ended the inning on ground out.
The Cats were playing like they were half asleep early on on both sides of the ball.
Arizona’s woes continued at the plate into the bottom of the third inning as one one runner would get on only to be forced out and not putting hits together. The final out of the inning appeared that Malia Martinez was safe at second but was called out. That brought the ire of head coach Mike Candrea as he walked out to second and gave the umpire an earful.
Hannah Martinez made a nice catch in right field on a soft line drive that had a chance to drop in for a hit. That was followed by a shot down the first base line that was snagged by Pierce to retire the side.
In the bottom the fourth inning, Pierce led off with a wall and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two ground outs later Pierce was on third base. This was the farthest an Arizona runner had advanced in the contest. “Peanut” Martinez first ball swinging promptly shingled to drive in the Cat’s first run of the game. Zona tied it up at 1-1 at the midway point.
Other than the first inning homer by Harvard, McQuillin had held the Crimson hitless. McQuillin set down the Harvard bats in order in the top of the fifth inning.
The Cats appeared to show some life in the bottom of the fifth when the top of the order was at bat. Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza singled to start off but once again a fielder’s choice forced her at second. Another ground out at least got Palomino-Cardozo to second base and in scoring position. Mulipola kept the inning alive with a sharp ground ball that ate up the Crimson Shortstop Rihanna Rich and the Wildcats had runners at the corners. A steal moved Mulipola to second but both runners were left on base when Pierce grounded out.
Harvard’s anemic offense with one hit (a home run) through six innings was still smack dab in the middle of the game with the Cat’s bats asleep.
To the bottom the sixth inning we went when Hannah Bowen smoked a line drive to right center field that missed being a home run by a foot but ended up on second with one out. “Peanut” Martinez followed with a solid singled as the Cats finally strung some hits together. Bowen scored to make it 2-1 as Martinez ended up on second on the throw home. Palomino-Cardoza added an insurance RBI with a single up the middle.
Things continued to go south for Harvard as Harper walked to put two runners aboard. Malia Martinez then hit a seeing eye grounder to center to score Palomino-Cardozo with run number four. The bats stayed hot as Muliopla hit a grounder in the hole up the middle that Harper beat the throw to second base to load the bases. Run number five was a grounder that glanced off Katie Duncan’s leg and everyone was safe to keep the bases loaded. Pinch hitter Joelle Krist struck looking to finally end the inning. The damage was done as the Wildcats scored four big runs as the Crimson we’re down to their last three outs.
McQuillin slammed the door shut in the bottom of the seventh inning as she set Harvard down in order and the Cats woke up in time to advance to play Auburn at 3 PM on Saturday.
