As the line drive sailed over the right-field fence, it was almost as if Janelle Meono couldn’t believe it either.
The leadoff hitter had done almost everything for No. 8 Arizona softball except for that: hit a home run. So after rounding the bases, she was mobbed by countless teammates, who all wanted to congratulate the redshirt freshman on her unique achievement, hitting one out in her 44th career game.
“Before the at-bat, I obviously was not thinking about a home run,” Meono said. “I was just trying to slap the ball and it just went. When my first-base coach started laughing, I think that was when I knew it was gone.”
Meono has been plenty valuable without the long ball. Going 3 for 6 during Wednesday’s back-to-back 8-0 wins against Grand Canyon, Meono extended her hit streak to 17 games. She has every tool in the slap-hitters toolbox, the high chopper, the slow-rolling push bunt and the simple you’re-not-throwing-me-out grounder to the left side.
“I wouldn’t say I’m perfect, but it’s just practicing it a lot (to get where I’m at),” Meono said.
Her success has made the whole lineup look even more powerful.
Janelle Meono
Behind her, Arizona threatens pitchers with three fifth-year seniors. Reyna Carranco, who hit a sacrifice fly to invoke the run-rule in Wednesday’s game, Dejah Mulipola, who ripped her 17th extra-base hit of the season, and Jessie Harper, who is tied for fifth on the all-time home run list, have all been named NFCA All-Americans at some point.
Then, there’s Sharlize Palacios, who went 3 for 5 Wednesday with another homer, her fourth in five games. Behind her Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza crushed a three-run homer in the first inning of Wednesday’s second game. In her sixth year with the Wildcats, Palomino-Cardoza has 67 career home runs, 18 behind Harper.
In the eighth spot, Malia Martinez went 3 for 3 and earned a walk-off walk to end the second game with a fifth-inning run-rule.
“Maybe my expectations are a little higher,” coach Mike Candrea said. “I feel we still gave away some at-bats and had some opportunities to really blow it open.”
Still, Arizona has won 12 straight since back-to-back losses at No. 3 Washington to open Pac-12 play, and it has only one more conference loss than first-place No. 2 UCLA (22-2, 5-1).
Everything is trending in the right direction as the team heads into a crucial four-game road series against No. 13 Arizona State. The Sun Devils (25-10, 6-6) have struggled with consistency this year, beating No. 6 Washington twice while also dropping contests against Utah and Stanford.
“They play hard, and they’re at the same level we are,” Candrea said. “So, it comes down to a matter of who executes the game. It comes down to pitching, good defense and timely hitting. At that level, that’s what the game looks like. We should be used to that.”
