Arizona Wildcats softball team shines on cloudy day, blasting past Indiana 6-1

Arizona’s offense has the potential to make even good pitchers look mediocre.

Emily Goodin, Indiana’s ace for the last three seasons, came into Sunday’s game with a sub-2.00 ERA, but that didn’t last long. The No. 4 Wildcats (21-3) turned the outfield wall at Hillenbrand Stadium into a backstop for some of their hardest hit balls all season. By the end of the 6-1 victory, they had racked up eight hits, including a solo home run by Alyssa Palomino.

In that fifth inning at-bat, the Arizona center fielder worked the count to 3-0, watched a pitch on the inside-half of the plate before daring Goodin to go back outside. She did, and Palomino-Cardoza drilled it to the stands in left-center field.

Jessie Harper had two hits reach the wall on the fly, and the thud from Izzy Pacho’s double off the wall in the third inning could be heard throughout the stadium.

But even some of the less thunderous at-bats on the rainy afternoon showed Arizona’s offensive might.

Hanah Bowen’s third-inning bloop single was perhaps the most impactful play of the game. Arizona was up 2-0, but Harper represented another potential run, standing on third with two outs. It was the type of situation which Arizona had squandered in the past, leading to tense battles against lesser opponents.

Goodin started Bowen off with a pitch outside, nibbling at the edge of the plate, but when she went back there again, Bowen was ready, lifting it over the head of Indiana third baseman Hannah Davis. Not only did it score Harper but it set the stage for Pacho’s big double.

Bowen, who also stars as the team’s third pitcher, contributed a sacrifice fly later in the game and is now batting .393.

“Hanah is a very intelligent player,” Candrea said. “There is no doubt when she’s in the lineup that there is some thought going behind it.”

The game flew by, registering less than two hours despite plenty of late-inning substitutions and a full seven innings.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

That was in large part thanks to another strong start by Alyssa Denham (9-1), who carried a perfect game into the fifth inning.

She allowed just one unearned run, coming off Indiana’s lone hit and second baseman Reyna Carranco’s first error of the season, in six innings. She also had eight strikeouts and threw just 89 pitches.

“It went by fast, and that’s just trying to be efficient on my end,” Denham said.

“I was just trying to get out there and get right back in as fast as I can, and they were aggressive so it allowed me to do that.”

Arizona hosts St. Joseph’s at 6 p.m. Tuesday before starting conference play next weekend against Oregon State.

With the Wildcats riding a 10-game win streak, Candrea expressed optimism just two days after talking about how they were “driving me bonkers.”

“We are where we are,” he said. “This team has competed well. We didn’t play an easy schedule, and for the most part we’ve played pretty good softball.

“I like where we are at.”