Arizona junior Blaise Biringer's new home at third base brings more maturity, confidence

Blaise Biringer is hitting her stride.

It’s taken a little time and a bit of patience.

But, in her second year as a Wildcat after transferring from Ole Miss, she is definitely feeling it.

Don’t count out another big factor: UA coach Caitlin Lowe has confidence in Biringer.

So much so that she is now the starting third baseman — even though that position really wasn’t her sweet spot.

“I know second base, shortstop have been her natural position(s) — that’s what we recruited her as,” Lowe said. “The transition to the hot corner is a tough one. It’s not the same. You have way less time, and she’s handled it very smoothly. I just think her maturity this year has just been great.”

No. 21 Arizona (24-12, 3-6 Pac-12) heads to Northern California to face No. 7 Stanford (28-6, 5-4) in a series starting on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Biringer, who was a three-time all-state performer at Cienega High School and played for two state championship teams, played all infield positions in club ball for the Sun Cats. Moving over a little to the right wasn’t a drastic change.

“I think it makes me way better because I get to focus on one position, whereas last year I was all over the place learning every other position,” Biringer said.

Although third base is still relatively new, Biringer has made only five errors for a .940 fielding percentage, with most of those coming early on. She has had only one in Pac-12 play, against Utah on March 17.

To help her with the shift, she’s been taking many groundballs from UA assistant Lauren Lappin. Biringer couldn’t find a better role model or teacher than Lappin.

Besides playing catcher, Lappin also played shortstop and second base throughout her collegiate, Olympic and professional careers. Lappin was a two-time Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006 at Stanford, an NFCA All-America and an All-Pac-10 performer.

While it’s taken just a moment to get “used to just being so close to the batter’s box,” Biringer has taken the challenge head on.

“I feel like when the ball goes side to side, I just rely on my hands,” Biringer said. “Now I’m working on moving side to side using my legs. Really that’s like the biggest thing. And covering bunts. When I was in the middle infield, I didn’t have to worry about any of that. This year I am charging every bunt.

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“I decided I really have to move instead of just relying on my hands. I have to be explosive with my legs and just going to the ball instead of trying to reach for the ball.”

Knowing she’s being penciled in at third every day has also translated to her game overall. Her numbers are up at the plate year over year.

Last season her line was .302/.354/.422. She drove in 18 runs and had 35 hits (eight doubles, two home runs) in 116 at-bats.

This year’s line is: .357/.442/.455. Biringer has driven in 26 runs and has 40 hits (six doubles, one triple, one home run) in 112 at-bats.

Lowe said Biringer has matured and learned to roll “with the punches a little bit and recover and realize that the last at-bat didn’t mean anything and it’s the next one coming up.”

While she has relied on Lappin to help her in perfecting her fielding at the hot corner, Biringer comes back to her head coach, Lowe, who has always had that confidence in her.

“Last year I was little shy and didn’t really ask her questions,” Biringer said. “This year I’ve kind of come out of my shell and asked her a lot of questions about slapping, about hitting away. I think she has made me better about seeing pitchers, what kind of count I should be in. She’s made me comfortable.”

Extra bases

UA’s do-it-all freshman, Tayler Biehl, was taking reps in the bullpen as a catcher this week. She will serve as a backup for Olivia DiNardo while Izzy Pacho is still away from the team for personal reasons. Lowe said Pacho is considered day to day.

Half of the Wildcats roster is from Southern Arizona with Biringer, Pacho, Allie Skaggs, Devyn Netz, Logan Cole, Brianna Hardy, Aissa Silva and Carlie Scupin all from Tucson. Sophia Carroll and Ali Asher are from Phoenix.

“It’s really cool to have our community close together,” Biringer said. “I played in club (ball) with a lot of the girls like Izzy, Skaggs, Carlie, Breezy (Hardy). I played with all of them and Logan too. It’s really cool to have them back together. I never thought this would happen. I remember Carlie and me crying our eyes out before I left home to Ole Miss. She came here never thinking we’d get to play together again. Now we’re playing catch together before practice, which is really cool. I love it.”

Another Pac-12 series means UA will face more top pitchers. This time it’s Stanford’s Alana Vawter (12-3, 1.61 ERA), NiJaree Canady (8-0, 0.14) and Regan Krause (8-3, 1.91). Combined, they have the fifth-best ERA in the country at 1.44. Canady, a freshman, is second in the country in strikeouts per seven innings with 12.5 and had a 50-inning shutout streak to start her career. Her 1.91 hits allowed per seven innings is the lowest in the nation by nearly a full hit. Vawter is third in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 10.38.

The Wildcats’ approach will be to keep it simple. “Not trying to do so much and try to hit base hits rather trying to be big and try to (hit) home runs just because it’s a good team and they have good pitching,” Biringer said. “I think just keeping things simple and just being together throughout the weekend.”