OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – After falling to Oklahoma State in game one Arizona Softball (39-21, 8-16) came with the big 3-1 win against Oregon State to stay alive.
Survive and advance! That is all that matters at this point, and for Arizona Softball that was certainly the case last night as the Wildcats were able to come away with a much-needed win over Oregon State.
Turning to Devyn Netz who got the start on the bump for the Wildcats, Devyn was on fire last night as she was dealing. Netz would eventually be pulled in the sixth, but she finished her day pitching five innings, surrendering just one run on three hits.
She would be replaced by Hanah Bowe, who was flawless over the last two innings, leaving the Beavers scoreless.
Facing a pitcher’s duel for much of the game, luckily, the offense did just enough to help deliver the win in this one! Despite finding their rhythm late, Arizona was able to plate two runs in the sixth to outdo the Beavers in this one.
Carlie Scupin, Blaise Biringer, and Sophia Carroll led the way in this one, going a combined 5-8 from the dish with three RBIs.
Despite falling behind 1-0 early on, Arizona Softball bounced back in a big way to come away with the 3-1 win!
It is not how you start, but rather how you finish! And boy, did Arizona Softball finish this elimination game at the College World Series in a big way.
Oregon State would get things going early when they broke the 0-0 tie in the second inning when Beavers’ Madison Simon would fly out to left field, bringing in a sacrifice runner.
Luckily for us, that lead wouldn’t last for long as the Wildcats’ bats would come alive in the same inning. Trailing 1-0, the Wildcats would use some timely hitting to get on base, which set up Sophia Carroll who doubled to right-center, scoring Biringer to make it 1-1.
With both offenses sputtering through the third, fourth, and fifth innings, finally, the action picked back up in the bottom of the sixth.
With the game still tied at 1-1, that is when Arizona’s offense came in clutch! Fueled by timely hitting once again, Carlie Scupin came up big as she doubled to left to bring in Amber Toven.
A few batters later, Blaise would come up big, singling down the right field to score Giulia Koutsoyanopu to provide a much-needed insurance run.
With a 3-1 lead at hand, Hanah Bowen would shut things down in the top of the seventh inning to come away with the huge win!
Where does Arizona Softball go from here?
With the win, Arizona improves to 39-21 (8-16) on the year and lives to see another day. The Wildcats will return to action on Sunday when they take on the loser from the Oklahoma State/Florida game.