Allie Skaggs knows that even the smallest adjustments to her hitting mechanics can make a significant shift.
That’s why she is always watching and always tweaking something in her swing.
Skaggs’ approach definitely worked Tuesday afternoon, when the Arizona Wildcats sophomore hit three home runs in the nightcap of a doubleheader sweep of UTEP. The three home runs tied a school record for most in a game; Skaggs joins Jessie Harper, Katiyana Mauga, Stacie Chambers, Jenny Dalton-Hill and others in accomplishing the feat.
Skaggs is hitting .375 with 14 home runs and 36 RBIs this season. Her slugging percentage of .786 is second among Arizona’s regulars. (Carlie Scupin leads the Cats with 15 homers and an .821 slugging percentage.)
“I’ve been working on like letting go of my other hand and I finally did that (Tuesday), and I guess it worked great,” Skaggs said.
Her teammates hope Skaggs keeps on swinging the same way this weekend, when Arizona (25-15, 4-11 Pac-12) takes on Utah (21-20, 4-8 Pac-12) at Dumke Family Softball Stadium.
The Wildcats, who have won five of their last six games, can climb out of last place in the league by taking the series.
“Personally, I watch a lot of swings,” said Skaggs, who grew up in Louisville before moving to Tucson, where she spent her final high school season at Ironwood Ridge.
“I watch MLB. I’ll watch a ton of other college softball. I see great hitters that do it like (UA teammate) Shar (Palacios). She’s getting a hold of a bunch of she’s doing the same thing. I’m like, ‘You know what, maybe I’ll try it. I don’t know that could work. I roll over a lot. OK, so let’s try to let go and see if it helps.’ And (Tuesday), it felt great. I felt comfortable.”
Allie Skaggs hits in the cage during the Wildcats' Feb. 1 practice. The sophomore is known for tinkering with her swing.
Skaggs’ place in the lineup helps. She bats third, right after Palacios — which helps Skaggs see how pitchers are throwing to power hitters. In the first inning of Tuesday’s game, Skaggs watched as Palacios ripped a homer to center field. Skaggs followed with a blast to left field. Skaggs next homer, in the third, inning, went to center. A shot over the left-field fence in the sixth inning gave the Wildcats a 10-2, run-rule victory.
“I thought she went out more aggressively took a more a more aggressive step and approach to the ball and it really shows,” UA coach Caitlin Lowe said.
One of Skaggs’ favorite things to do is watch swings. She’ll even watch herself, even though, she said “I get frustrated. I’m like, ‘What did you just swing out? What do you like? What are you doing? OK, you look weird.’”
Heading in the right direction
Devyn Netz had one of her best performances of the season Saturday, pitching four solid innings before she was relived by Hanah Bowen.
On Tuesday, it was Bowen who got hot. The right-hander gave up one hit in four shutout innings. She struck out four, walked two and enticed four fly outs and one ground out.
Lowe said that over the last few weeks she’s seen more confidence from the pitchers.
Palacios, the Wildcats’ catcher, is seeing the same thing.
“Presence on the mound is a big thing,” Palacios said. “I like when they are stepping on the mound and knowing that they’re going to pitch a strike and knowing that they’re going to blow it past someone. That’s something that a catcher can appreciate because it gets you into the game and just attacking the batters. I think you can tell when a game is kind of lagging on it’s when there are balls being thrown.
“And I think they do a really good job and they succeed very well when they get ahead.”
Digging deep
Even though they dominated Tuesday’s doubleheader, Lowe thought the Wildcats came out a “bit flat energy-wise.”
That the Wildcats still found a way to win wasn’t lost on her. Just a few weeks ago, Arizona might now have been capable of doing it.
“Good teams always find a way, no matter how they feel,” Lowe said. “No matter what kind of breaks they get, you find a way to win. And I think that’s what we’ve been learning as we go. It doesn’t matter how we show up that day. It doesn’t matter who’s hot and who’s not. We have to play good softball, and, you know, we found a way to compete for our pitchers in that second game and I thought, (they had) tough pitchers to adjust to, but they found a way to get done.”
It’s taken the young Wildcats a while to start putting things together. Netz says it’s all about respecting the game.
“If you come here and you grind and you work hard, and you put in the work, the game knows who you are and the game is going to give you those big moments and you’re going to have success,” Netz said.
Inside pitch
Sophomore Janelle Meoño, who injured her foot earlier in the season, is out of her protective boot. She has been seen wearing a light pad on her leg. Arizona’s medical staff is evaluating Meoño week to week.
In the last three Pac-12 series, the Wildcats have hit 14 home runs — five coming from Palacios. Arizona hit just one total homer in the first two Pac-12 series of the season.
