Reyna
Carranco
Jessie
Harper
Arizona’s Jessie Harper rounded second base and headed for home, eager to finish her team’s great escape against No. 19 James Madison on Sunday.
Her teammate Hillary Edior rushed out of the dugout to intercept her.
After her 11th home run of the season, a moonshot that wrapped around the left field foul pole, Harper needed to touch third base before finalizing the 8-6, eight-inning victory. She turned, tapped it and trotted home to celebrate the improbable win.
“That was just a whole bunch of weirdness,” Harper said. “I don’t know what was going on and was just happy we won. It was just a little blonde moment, and it won’t happen again.”
Harper’s homer, her fifth in six games this week at Hillenbrand Stadium, came after Reyna Carranco tied it at 6 with an RBI double with two outs in the eighth inning.
The previous inning, Rylee Pierce ripped a grounder through the glove of JMU second baseman Madison Naujokas to drive in pinch runner Ivy Davis from second and force the extra frame.
Even though the play went down as an error, it was a memorable moment for Pierce, a transfer from Missouri, who started the season 0 for 16 at the plate but is 8 for 20 since.
“For it to be Rylee, and for her to have that moment here in Hillenbrand Stadium, in front of our fans, that is all we really wanted for her, being a transfer,” Harper said.
Still, those heroics shouldn’t have been necessary.
No. 12 Arizona (15-5) jumped out to a 4-0 lead, fueled by two RBI hits from Malia Martinez, before it nearly collapsed in the fifth inning. With runners on second and third, Pierce scooped up a bunt and tagged first. After initially hesitating, JMU’s Hannah File raced home. But instead of an easy double play, Pierce spiked her throw well short of catcher Dejah Mulipola.
From there, Arizona pitcher Taylor McQuillin walked nine-hole hitter Naujokas before giving up a two-run double to JMU’s leadoff hitter, Kate Gordon, with two outs.
The visitors tied the game when Harper airmailed a throw over first base for her fifth error of the season.
“It’s trying to get some of these players to relax when they’re playing defense,” coach Mike Candrea said. “In that inning we just let them back in the game. We’ve got a runner sitting as a dead duck at home plate, and we can’t throw a ball to home plate. Something’s happening there.”
On a day when the Wildcats mustered 13 hits and eight runs while facing JMU’s (8-3) entire pitching staff, the defensive miscues, including three errors, seemed damaging enough to sink them.
But the bats came through at just the right time once again, and Arizona secured its 12th victory in its last 13 games with Harper’s first walk-off hit of the season.
Arizona next visits New Mexico State for a doubleheader Tuesday.
