Arizona Softball opens regional tournament with a win
TUCSON, AZ- Arizona Softball (43-12) starts the Tucson Regional’s of the NCAA Tournament with a much-needed win over Harvard.
We got off to a late start in this one in Tucson, and perhaps that led to the slow start by the Arizona Softball team.
Opening the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats took on the visiting Harvard Crimson as part of the Regional round hosted in Tucson.
Arizona Wildcats
Naturally, Arizona turned to senior Taylor McQuillin, their ace, as she took to the mound in this one. Perhaps facing a bit of nerves, things would start off a little shaky in the beginning, when on the second at-bat of the game, McQuillin would give up a solo home run to Harvard.
Luckily for Arizona, that’s the entire offense that Harvard would see all game, as McQuillin would settle in nicely, smothering the Crimson with great pitching and defense.
However, the Wildcat bats were cold from the start, as Arizona would be held scoreless through the first three innings of the game.
Finally a breakthrough! Trailing 1-0 to begin the bottom of the fourth, Arizona would get runners on base with two outs, which set-up Hannah Martinez who then singled in Rylee Pierce to tie the game at 1-1.
Two innings later, the Wildcats would then explode offensively in the bottom of the sixth to put this one out of reach for good.
It was Martinez again to begin the inning, as the sophomore came up big, when she would single to score Hanah Bowen to make it 2-1. Then it was Alyssa Palomino who would single up the middle to score Martinez to extend the Wildcat lead to 3-1!
Malia Martinez and Pierce would then join the offensive action, getting some timely hits for the Cats to make it 5-1 in the sixth inning!
That would give Arizona all the run support they needed and then some, as the Cats paced themselves to the 5-1 victory!
https://twitter.com/ArizonaSoftball/status/1129635546014179328
McQuillin would pick up the win for the Cats, and Hannah Martinez would essentially lead the way offensively, as she would finish 2-3 from the plate with two RBI’s.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 43-12 on the year, and more importantly they advance to the winners bracket of the NCAA Regional’s. Now they will face Auburn on Saturday at 3pm MST, with the hopes of winning that one and potentially being just one win away from advancing!
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At Zona Zealots, we’re excited for our Cats and hope they can continue the strong play during this tournament! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!