Arizona eliminated by Mississippi after forcing decisive game in regional final

Arizona forced an elimination game for Mississippi by winning the first game on Sunday 10-1 in five innings. The Wildcats were dominant offensively and Arizona pitcher Miranda Stoddard shut down the Rebels' offense.

Stoddard pitched five innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Arizona scored four in the first inning to take control of the game and added three in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth to put themselves in position to earn the run rule win.

Devyn Netz doubled home a run and that was followed by a three-run Sydney Stewart home run to stretch the Arizona lead to 4-0. An Aliyah Binford solo HR in the bottom of the first inning accounted for the only run for Mississippi in game one in the bottom of the first inning.

Dakota Kennedy had a two-run triple in the second and scored on a Regan Shockey fielder's choice to put Arizona ahead 7-0. Shockey had an RBI single in the third and Kaiah Altmeyer hit a two-run HR in the fourth to put Arizona ahead 10-1. That was enough for Stoddard and Arizona put Mississippi away to force a decisive game.

Mississippi was the visiting team in game seven of the Tucson Regional and that was the difference all three times they played Arizona this weekend. Four runs were scored in the top of the first inning in all three games. Netz was the starting pitcher versus Mississippi on Saturday and the second game on Sunday.

Binford hit her first of two HRs in game two and three overall on Sunday to put Mississippi ahead 2-0 in the top of the first inning. Three batters later, Mackenzie Pickens hit another two-run HR to extend the Mississippi lead to 4-0. Arizona scored on an Altmeyer RBI single and a bases-loaded walk by Miranda Stoddard to make it 4-2.

A Percy Llamas HR and Ashton Lansdell sacrifice fly put Mississippi back up by four, 6-2, in the top of the third. Stewart and Binford traded HRs in the third and fourth innings to make it 7-3 Mississippi, which was the final score. Mississippi advanced to the Super Regional for the third time in program history.

The last chance for Arizona came in the bottom of the sixth inning. Arizona loaded the bases on a single and two walks with two outs. Stewart popped out to shortstop when the ball came off the end of the bat to end the sixth. Miali Guachino got the final three outs for Mississippi.

Paige Dimler, Netz, Stoddard and Saya Swain have played their last games for Arizona. Freshman Ryan Maddox and Aissa Silva are likely to be the primary pitchers for Arizona in 2026. Stewart will likely lead a lineup that returns all of their starters except Netz and Stoddard, barring any potential transfers.