Arizona softball's Miranda Stoddard making up for lost time with slew of honors

Getting to bat again, Arizona grad student pitcher/infielder Miranda Stoddard has made up for some lost time.

At the Bear Down Fiesta last week, Stoddard hit six home runs, a triple, had an .833 batting average (10 for 12), 12 RBIs, 30 total bases, four walks, and an .824 on-base percentage.

“It felt great, I mean, obviously people were like, ‘how did you do that?’” Stoddard said. “I’m not like working 10 times harder than anyone else on the team or anything, definitely have like put in hard work so it’s really nice and fun to see that pay off.

“But it’s just great, we’ll keep riding the wave for as long as it’ll carry me, but that’s all really.”

On Tuesday, Stoddard was named a Softball America Star of the Week, won NFCA Player of the Week and the Big 12 Player of the Week. It’s the second week in a row the Wildcats won Big 12 POW after Kaiah Altmeyer earned it the first week of the season.

“It felt great to see Miranda get it, I mean to me those are crazy numbers that she put up and just has been locked in at the plate kind of throughout January and then it was great to see her just kind of settled into being herself,” said UA head coach Caitlin Lowe. “She took some singles on Sunday because that’s what the pitcher was giving her. When she got her pitch she took it and it was exciting, she’s just been steady for us.

“I know people are looking at the offense, but on the mound she was great to start the weekend, so I’m just really happy for her.”

Stoddard leads the conference in batting (.611), home runs (six), home runs per game (0.67), slugging percentage (1.722), and total bases (31).

She will try to stay hot as the Wildcats host the Hillenbrand Invitational Thursday through Sunday with No. 1 Texas, No. 20 Stanford, UC Davis and Colorado State coming to town.

Stoddard leads the team in batting and home runs and is second in RBIs. As a pitcher, she’s second on the ERA (1.75), is second in wins (2-0 record) and third in strikeouts (eights).

After graduating from Kentucky, Stoddard entered the corporate world but missed softball and transferred to Arizona.

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In her career at Kentucky, she hit 18 home runs, and her season high was nine in 2021-22, her last season there. In the circle, she went 19-13 with an ERA of 3.61 at UK.

Last year the Anaheim, California native played 43 games, starting 23, in the field but didn’t have any at bats. As a pitcher, she went 6-9 with a 3.97 ERA, allowing 142 hits over 128⅔ innings.

This season she is balancing hitting and pitching again but doesn’t have to pitch as much as the UA pitching staff was decimated by injuries last year.

“I think I definitely have a lot of practice with that, that was definitely one of my main roles at Kentucky because I was starting on the field versus on the mound more often than not but it is definitely a lot more just to do at the same time,” Stoddard said. “I’ve also had kind of a load taken off on my responsibility in this circle.

“So when you look at all the things that I’m taking on, it’s probably about similar to what it ended up being last year.”

After spending fall 2023 shaking off the rust and mainly pitching last year, Stoddard has had a regular offseason to prepare for her final season.

“She has a very high softball IQ and I think I’m mostly happy that she had an entire year under her belt of being able to prep for this season,” Lowe said. “We were in a different boat last year, and she didn’t know she was going to play softball anymore. That’s what makes me so happy is that she’s in a different place with the game and she got a full year under her belt, experience under her belt to prep for these moments. I think the work she consistently puts in every single day.

“You don’t get surprised by that and at the same time, that’s a crazy weekend, so just impressive for her and ready to kind of just get back to her daily routine.”

Extra bases

• On Saturday, the Wildcats face top-ranked Texas. The game’s promotion is “Rodeo Day,” and the fans are asked to wear red. “This is probably one of the biggest games, if not the biggest that we will play this year you,” Stoddard said. “The only other time that we’ll probably play a No. 1 seed or any team like this is gonna be in postseason and so it’s a great opportunity for us to just challenge ourselves and try and see what we’re made of.”
• Stanford comes to Hillenbrand Stadium a couple weeks after Washington played in Tucson. On March 1, the Wildcats face No. 4 UCLA in the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Lowe said they want to keep the Pac-12 relationships alive. “They’re a great program and it’s like old Pac-12 matchup, rest in peace,” said junior utility Sydney Stewart, who transferred from Washington.
• Former Wildcat pitcher/first baseman Danielle O’Toole-Trejo is an assistant coach for Stanford. On Sunday, O’Toole-Trejo tweeted “Tucson, I’ll see you this weekend,” with a saluting, a saguaro and a number 3 emojis. She wore No. 3 at Arizona.
• UA is giving out trading cards on each day of the tournament with the freshmen on Thursday, sophomores on Friday and so forth. On Sunday, they will sign autographs after the game. The Wildcats moved up to No. 11 in the USA Softball/ESPN rankings and to 13th in the preseason NFCA rankings. Last week, they were No. 15 in both polls.