COLUMBIA, MO – One day after whipping Illinois, Arizona Softball (35-20, 8-16) was in dominant form once again, beating host Missouri 2-0.
There may have been a bit of delay to start the game; however, it didn’t seem to slow down Arizona Softball as the Wildcats continued their hot play as they took the No. 15 overall seed and host Missouri.
Opening the tournament action against the Illini on Friday afternoon, Arizona looked dominant as they came away with the 8-3 win.
And as they returned to action on Saturday afternoon with an even greater challenge on their hands, the Wildcats kept their hot streak going.
Plating just two runs, Carlie Sculpin was the hero of the day, blasting a two-run home run in the fifth inning, her 18th of the season.
However, the bigger story was the dominant performance from Hanah Bowen. Just one day after helping to deliver the opening round against Illinois, Bowen was masterful, throwing a complete-game shutout as she surrendered just four hits and struck out six Tiger batters to improve to 12-10 on the year.
Despite starting slow once again, the Arizona Softball bats came alive late en route to securing a regional finals appearance.
Fresh off of a big win over Illinois, the Wildcats quickly returned to action as they turned to starter Hanah Bowen once again in this one.
Seemingly more comfortable in this one than she was against Illinois, Hanah was dominant as she held a prolific Missouri offense to just zero runs on four hits.
This game would turn into a pitcher’s duel and would be back and forth for most of the game until Carlie broke things open in the fifth. Izzy Pacho would start things off for the Cats as she was hit by a pitch which then set up Scupin to hit the two-run home run.
Arizona would go on to win by a 2-0 final and now await to learn their fate!
Where does Arizona Softball go from here?
With the win, Arizona improves to 35-20 (8-16) on the year and will return to action late on Sunday afternoon when they take on Missouri again. First pitch is set for 4:00 PM and should the Wildcats win, they will advance to the Super Regionals.