The No. 8-ranked UA softball team ran its win streak to 16 games with a doubleheader sweep at Grand Canyon on Friday, winning 6-0 and 2-0 in eight innings.
Taylor McQuillin (15-5) had a no-hit attempt broken up in the seventh inning, but still finished with a one-hitter for UA in the opening game in Phoenix. In the second game, Reyna Carranco’s two-run single in the eighth snapped a scoreless tie. Alyssa Denham (10-2) allowed just two hits in the win for the Wildcats (34-7).
McQuillin sat down 17 consecutive Grand Canyon hitters before her perfect game ended with a walk in the sixth inning. She struck out 10, and her 15th win of the season leads UA and is tied for second in the Pac-12. Her 157 strikeouts rank fourth in the conference. It was her fourth shutout in five starts.
Rylee Pierce's fifth home run of the season got the scoring started in the fifth inning, before Arizona scored five more runs in sixth thanks to two RBI singles by Hannah Martinez and an RBI each by Hillary Edior and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza.
UA's Denham won the pitchers' duel in Game 2, which ended in extra innings. She struck out 10 across eight innings.
Pierce's single put the Wildcats on base in the eighth, then Martinez reached on an error, Jenna Kean hit a sacrifice fly to move the runners to second and third, and Carranco singled up the middle to bring in both Pierce and Martinez.
The teams meet for the series finale at 1 p.m. Saturday, televised on Fox Sports Arizona.
