Just nine games into her freshman season, Carlie Scupin has already shown her mastery in the batterβs box.
Itβs not just her power.
The Tucson High graduate has also impressed with her plate discipline and ability to spray hits all over the field. She showed each of those skills with a pivotal grand slam in Saturdayβs 11-3 victory over BYU.
The No. 3 Wildcats (9-0) scored their first four runs via small-ball, slapping six singles in seven at-bats early in the third inning. Scupin came up with the bases loaded, and tension filled Hillenbrand Stadium. The lefty entered the day with a team-leading 1.118 slugging percentage and tied for the team lead with four home runs.
It took three foul tips to lock onto the timing of BYU pitcher Autumn Moffat-Korth. Scupin watched as a ball sailed past the outside part of the plate. Forced to throw a strike or load the count with the bases loaded, Moffat-Korth left a drop ball a little too high and Scupin blasted it over the center-field wall.
βSheβs a monster,β senior Malia Martinez said. βSheβs such a mature player. I didnβt have that when I was a freshman. She owns her (strike) zone when sheβs hitting, and she knows what she can do. Sheβs amazing, and I canβt wait to see her grow throughout her years here.β
All nine starters reached base, and four had multiple hits. Jessie Harper crushed her 78th career home run, and Sharlize Palacios ripped a walk-off double to end the game in the sixth inning.
The offense needed to do the heavy lifting as Mariah Lopez had maybe her worst outing at Arizona. She allowed three earned runs, tied for the most in her Wildcat career, on five hits with four strikeouts. Her most troubling stat was the two home runs allowed to Rylee Jensen-McFarland and Huntyr Ava.
So far, Lopez has allowed four homers in 20 innings this season, as many as she allowed in 71 innings in 2020.
βSometimes you just try to be too careful,β coach Mike Candrea said. βSheβs just got to get some confidence that she can commit to that pitch and throw it, and she will get good results. Sometimes we try to guide it, and thatβs when you have some problems.β
Arizona was scheduled to play Oregon State, but due to a positive COVID-19 test within the Colorado State program, the contest was postponed to 11 a.m. Sunday. The players found out about the change during warmups, and first pitch was delayed for two hours.
βWe were just trying to stay loose,β Martinez said. βWe play hacky sack a lot, so we were having fun with that.
βWe were just trying to keep ourselves focused on the game and not worrying about who we were playing too much, just focusing on playing our game.β
