It was Arizona’s first sign of trouble, bases loaded with two outs after an infield single off UA pitcher Taylor McQuillin.
The first two batters had reached on a walk and a single. Then Stanford’s Bessie Noll stepped up to the plate, and took McQuillin to a full count.
On the sixth pitch, Noll launched the ball deep to center field, and Alyssa Palomino caught it to end the third inning.
Trouble avoided — if it existed at all. Fourth-ranked Arizona was leading by seven runs at that point Saturday, and went on to beat Stanford 12-0 in five innings.
With the win, Arizona (39-1, 11-0 Pac-12) extended its winning streak to 24 games.
“It’s a good performance,” UA coach Mike Candrea said. “But right now, the kids are playing the game with a lot of confidence, having some fun and we just gotta keep doing it.”
It’s easy to have fun when scoring 22 runs in two run-rule shortened victories. The support has taken a lot of the stress away from Arizona’s pitching staff.
Not that there’s been much stress in that department either — Arizona entered Saturday with a Pac-12 best 0.84 team ERA. McQuillin (13-0) leads the conference with a 0.63 ERA after Saturday’s showing.
But McQuillin didn’t feel like she was at her best Saturday. The sophomore pitched four innings, allowing three hits and two walks with six strikeouts.
Michelle Floyd closed the game out in the fifth, striking out one batter and walking one without allowing a hit.
“It was OK. It was a good, crappy day,” McQuillin said of her performance. “That’s how we’ve been putting it throughout the dugout. I think we’ll keep going with that. But it was enough to get out, and I think Michelle did a really good job of coming in and closing. So our team obviously gave us some great insurance.”
The Wildcats hit seven home runs in the series opener Friday, five of them coming in the first inning. Arizona’s Mo Mercado continued lighting up Stanford’s pitching in Game 2, belting a three-run home run in the first inning.
It was her second straight game with a homer, and her seventh of the season.
“Mo’s home run kind of got us started and gave us a little bit of breathing room,” Candrea said.
Freshman catcher Dejah Mulipola one-upped Mercado in the next inning — just as Palomino had one night earlier — when she launched a grand slam to left field, her 10th home run of the season.
“Honestly I was just looking for a fat pitch to hit,” Mulipola said. “That one was just low and in, I got extended luckily on an inside pitch after fouling two off and it was a good feeling when I made contact. Very good feeling.”
Added Candrea: “That was big.”
Stanford shut the Wildcats down in the third inning, holding Arizona to one hit, a Mandie Perez single, and no runs, but Arizona went right back at it in the fourth inning to help end things early for the second straight game.
Palomino led the inning off with a solo home run to left center, her 13th of the season, and third baseman Katiyana Mauga followed that up with a solo home run of her own, a shot to center field. Mauga’s home run, No. 14 on the season, put her in a tie with freshman teammate Jessie Harper for the Pac-12 lead. In two games against Stanford, the Wildcats have hit 11 home runs.
Arizona had 12 hits on Saturday, with Perez, Palomino, Mauga, Mercado and Ashleigh Hughes recording two apiece.
“It’s fun in the dugout; everyone’s really hyped,” Mulipola said. “It’s fun to see the next batter after you hit a home run. And the next batter, and the next batter and it’s cool knowing your teammates are behind you. If you don’t get on, they’ll come up and obviously hit a bomb.”
