Hannah Martinez has breakout game as Arizona softball team wins 9-1

Hannah “Peanut” Martinez pumped her fists in the air as a long fly ball rocketed over the right field fence.

The homer was a punctuation mark, closing the book on her season-opening slump.

Martinez entered Friday’s Wildcat Invitational opener against South Dakota with a .152 batting average, underwhelming for any player, much less a junior who started 45 games last season.

By the end of the night she had bumped her average almost 50 points, going 2 for 3 with two extra-base hits and two RBIs in a 9-1 run-rule win.

She got a little lucky with the first, a hard hit grounder that caromed off the first baseman’s glove allowing Martinez to swipe an extra bag, but there was no doubt about the second.

“(On the first one) it was inside and that’s my pitch right there,” she said. “So once I saw it, I squared it up and it just went my way.”

That’s a welcome change, as Martinez plays a crucial role on this year’s team.

Her glove, speed and cannon for an arm make her a go-to option in the outfield.

But her bat has been lacking. Over the last three games, she’s brought back some of the pop she had last year, when she hit .280 and slugged .368.

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The resurgence can be attributed to a couple of things. Coach Mike Candrea gave her a book, “Heads up Baseball” and Martinez got back to showing bunt before each swing, aiding her timing.

“It’s just getting my mindset back,” Martinez said. “Also getting out here and hitting before practice and just getting my feel back.”

Jessie Harper hooked a towering shot around the left-field foul pole for her eighth home run of the year, tallying her 200th career RBI.

But after that the offense fell quiet, a troubling trend Arizona has experienced this season.

Still, pitcher Mariah Lopez kept the door shut, carrying a perfect game into the fifth before Lauren Wobkin’s homer slid just over Martinez’s outstretched glove.

The solo shot provided the necessary kick in the pants. Malia Martinez ripped an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning, and the Wildcats added five runs in the sixth, sparked by Peanut’s homer, to end the game early.

“They finally woke up and got it done,” Candrea said. “Sometimes we get ourselves out because we’re not ready to hit.”

No. 4 Arizona (18-3) hosts both Boise State and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Saturday starting at 2 p.m.