Complete games gone, pitching staff by committee in as Arizona softball heads into NCAA play

The pitching strategy Arizona softball enjoyed when players like Taryne Mowatt-McKinney were in the circle is clearly long gone. So much so, that current Wildcat pitchers act eager to hand the ball off to a teammate.

Mowatt-McKinney, a star pitcher in the 2000s before more recently serving as the UA's pitching coach, led the Wildcats as a player to the 2007 Women’s College World Series championship. En route to winning an ESPY for "best female athlete," Mowatt-McKinney set WCWS records for innings pitched (60), strikeouts (76) and complete games (8).

This season — coincidentally also the first since UA head coach replaced Mowatt-McKinney as the team's pitching coach with newcomer Christian Conrad — the Wildcats were every bit a a pitching staff by committee as the program returns to the NCAA tournament after a one-year hiatus.

Arizona has used four pitchers this season with regularity, and the Wildcats have benefitted from it. The staff's overall ERA improved from 4.26 last year to 3.74 and their record from 29-25 to 34-16-1.

“I think it's very rare these days in college softball in general to have a seven inning pitcher, just with how good offenses are,” said UA head coach Caitlin Lowe.

Sophomore Aissa Silva (21-5), grad student Miranda Stoddard (5-8), freshman Brooke Mannon (6-3) and grad student Ali Blanchard (2-0) have 44, 40, 22 and 17 appearances this season respectively.

Lowe may be on to something. That quartet has combined this year for just one complete game (Silva had it). Last year, Devyn Netz had 14 complete games in the circle for the Wildcats. The year before that, UA pitchers combined for 20. 

“I think it definitely poses some challenges,” Stoddard admitted, “just trying to balance everybody out and work everybody in.

"But I think, at the end of the day, it’s just really comforting knowing that no one of us has to do it on our own in any single game or in a series," she added. "We can always depend on someone else to come in and pick us up or close the door on a team.”

Freshman pitcher Ryan Maddox, the No. 6 recruit in the country by Extra Inning Softball and the 2023 California Gatorade Player of the Year, suffered a season ending foot injury before the campaign started.

Senior Devyn Netz, 16-16 last year, and sophomore Sydney Somerndike 22 appearances last year, also haven’t pitched this season after dealing with offseason injuries.

Lowe said she’s proud of the staff’s growth this season, especially in a tough conference.

“(In) January, (if) you would have asked if they would be here now, I don't think they would have thought that they built themselves into this force,” Lowe said. “They have fed off each other which I really love and they are each other's biggest fans.

“I think you can see when they're handing off the ball and situations, they’re like 'you got this,' like, 'it's your turn next,'" Lowe added. "I love to see that from a bullpen because then it becomes not a one person show, it’s really a collective piece.”

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Arizona opens up the Fayetteville Regional on Friday against Villanova (31-22). The two other teams in the double elimination regional are nationally-seeded Arkansas (36-16) and SEMO (28-24).

“From a hitter’s standpoint, if I see someone multiple times it’s a lot easier for me to hit them,” Mannon said. "If I’m seeing different people throughout a game that’s a lot more difficult for me to tie them up because I’m worried about multiple pitchers, not just one.”

Silva has emerged as the team’s ace, throwing a team high 144 innings and earning second team All-Pac-12 honors. She’s second in the Pac-12 and 18th in the country in wins.

“It’s definitely a bigger role than last year that I had but I kind of just try to have my team’s back at any chance I have and any role that I’m in," Silva said. "Whether it’s starting or coming in, just know that I can get the job done."

Silva is from Tucson originally, but was a standout high school player in Northern California. She attended Mountain View High School for her final semester before enrolling early at Arizona last season.

“It’s been amazing,” Silva said. “It’s always been my dream school to go to.

"I’m from here, so just being able to go out there just gives me ... that extra confidence to know that I can go out there and I can do it.”

UA hasn’t played Villanova or SEMO yet. Arizona split a pair of 3-2 games with Arkansas earlier in the season, both in Tucson.

Silva and Mannon haven’t played in the NCAA tournament yet but most of them have played at Arkansas, including Stoddard, who previously played in the SEC.

“I feel great going back to Arkansas, we played there when I was at Kentucky for a series,” Stoddard said.

“It’s a great atmosphere, they have a lot of fans that are loud," she added with a laugh. "Maybe a little bit obnoxious sometimes, but it’s a fun environment to be in. I definitely feel comfortable there. Actually all of our pitching staff except for Brooke has pitched at Arkansas so I think that that will be to our benefit.”

Extra bases

• Arizona is 101-12 in NCAA Regional games with the Wildcats advancing 32 times out of 35 appearances to Super Regional play. They are 22-5 in nine regional appearances on the road, advancing seven times away from Tucson.

• With the Pac-12 Network era over for Arizona softball, the Villanova game is  sort of a new start for the Big 12-bound UA. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, which is where many Big 12 broadcasts end up airing. "Big 12 Now," via ESPN+, broadcasts a number of games across sports like Big 12 softball, football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer and more.

An ESPN+ subscription starts at $10.99 a month.