Arizona Softball played just a little over two games this weekend but earned three wins against the Stanford Cardinal over a total of only 15 innings.
The Wildcats sent a message early Friday night in game one. They scored 13 runs in the first inning alone. With senior ace Danielle O’Toole in the circle, that was plenty more than needed for the victory. In the second inning, they followed up with five runs en route to a final score of 20-1 in a five-inning game.
Arizona hits seven homers, scores 20 runs and extends its winning streak to 23.#RaiseTheA pic.twitter.com/Z77wZKMwtY
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) April 8, 2017
On Saturday Arizona was again rolling offensively in the first inning, and there was no stopping them after that. Senior Mo Mercado started the scoring with a 3-run home run.
Mo Mercado, Mo' runs for @UA_Softball! The 'Cats lead the nation with 64 HRs #Pac12SBhttps://t.co/YfMNDWtSGW https://t.co/EDCF5WDYVO
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) April 8, 2017
This statistic of 64 home runs is exciting, but the weekend was young. There was much more to come. As was the case Friday night, Arizona’s pitching kept Stanford hitters in check so Saturday’s game was decided early in the contest and took a lot of pressure off Taylor McQuillin and O’Toole. McQuillin may be Arizona’s No. 2 pitcher, but her numbers say it all.
Taylor McQuillin, who's 8-0 with an 0.14 ERA in her last eight starts, strikes out the side in the first.
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) April 8, 2017
M1 | Here come the Cats
The Wildcats finished Saturday’s game in five innings, winning 12-0. That left one final game on Sunday with O’Toole back in the circle. She was not quite as accurate as Sunday’s game progressed, and the defense behind her was not as sharp as usual. Honestly, they may have lost a bit of focus because of the lopsided scores at Hillebrand Stadium. Those issues will surely be cleaned up. Taylor McQuillin came in to relieve O’Toole, and the Wildcat batters took care of everything else.
Senior third baseman and current Pac-12 player of the week Katiyana Mauga batted in the first five runs of Sunday’s game with two home runs.
OMG, @katiyana_13.
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) April 9, 2017
2⃣ #MAUGABOMBS today, 4⃣ this weekend, 6⃣ in the last seven games.
This makes it 5-0. pic.twitter.com/W3mNhJDAv5
Arizona piled on a few more home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to end the game with a 9-1 score. The Arizona Wildcats finished the weekend with 15 home runs, which is an average of 1.15 per inning played. They are now at 71 home runs on the season, easily tops in the country.
The best result of the series was the Wildcats taking sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 with a 12-0 record(40-1 overall). Oregon had been undefeated entering the weekend but lost its first two games at UCLA.
In other news, Arizona Softball Coach Mike Candrea is being inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame:
Candrea. Derrick. Evans. Gulmon. Martin. Minton. Quinn. Simpson. Telegadas.
— USA Softball (@USASoftball) April 10, 2017
ICYMI: the 2017 HOF Class » https://t.co/pP4j9a2ykn pic.twitter.com/dIjUfuJoCA
And Oregon lost two games to UCLA, so Arizona should see a bump this week:
FINAL - Oregon falls at No. 9 UCLA, 1-0, in nine innings. Balint was fantastic but Oregon's bats go cold a second straight night. #GoDucks
— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) April 9, 2017
Must Read: More Arizona Basketball
Arizona goes on the road this week for a Thursday-Saturday series against Utah. The Utes have been playing well, so this will be a huge test for the 40-1 Wildcats. Catch the first game on April 13th at 6 PM on Pac-12 Networks. Bear Down Arizona Softball, keep hitting, homering, striking out the opposition, and have fun in Utah!