Arizona's Allie Skaggs finds hitting rhythm at right time with Pac-12 play, ASU on tap

Allie Skaggs knows that there are going to be good days and bad days at the plate. That’s the nature of the game, and she just takes it as it comes.

The junior second baseman, who hit 24 home runs last season, has been riding the wave this season. Starting out strong, then wobbling a bit, then finding the right balance over the weekend in the Hillenbrand Invitational.

Skaggs was in such a groove that she crushed six hits, scored five runs, drove in 11 runs, hit three home runs — including one grand slam — and had a double. She is now batting .350 and has a .650 slugging percentage. Skaggs is also tied for second in the Pac-12 with 27 RBIs, one shy of UCLA’s Maya Brady.

That’s the stat line of a reigning All-American.

“I’m finding my rhythm and being comfortable being my own self — slowing myself down,” Skaggs said. “It’s very easy to get very quick in this game, and you’ll see that when I’m anxious or stressed I speed up very quickly in the box, on defense, everything. Everyone does, that’s just what happens. Softball can speed up on you very quickly.

“Just slowing everything down and sticking with the process. That’s one thing that I’ve always been good about in my life ... I don’t get too high, and I don’t get too low. When I’m doing great, I don’t celebrate it too hard. I don’t sit in it for too long. I think staying consistent and just knowing that I will be able to come back from those weeks of struggle or the days of struggle. I’ve always done (it) before, so I know I’m going to be able to do it again.”

The 17th-ranked Wildcats are confident that Skaggs will carry that momentum up north when they open Pac-12 play at No. 22 Arizona State on Friday.

Skaggs isn’t the only one who has found their hitting rhythm. Olivia DiNardo won Pac-12 Freshman of the Week and Player of the Week honors, as well as Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week accolades, for her performance last week: 12 hits, five doubles, five walks, seven RBIs and an .857 batting average.

“She’s so consistent, it’s unreal,” Skaggs said. “I was on deck with her hitting a few times, and she was taking pitches and it didn’t even look like she was fooled at all by them.

“Every single at-bat she looks the same. She looks confident. She’s going to wait for a pitch that she knows that she can hit. She’s not going to go chase things. That’s not what she does. She’s got a great eye. She’s very poised for a freshman.”

The previous week, it was junior ace Devyn Netz picking up league and national honors for her powerful performance, which included four home runs and 10 RBIs over five games. Netz also pitched pitching 16⅔ innings, struck out nine and allowed five earned runs for a 2.70 ERA.

To say Arizona (15-6) is ready for Pac-12 action is an understatement. For Skaggs, there’s no better way to start than with the rivalry matchup.

“I think we’ve got to bring it, immediately,” Skaggs said. “There are no rollover teams at all in the Pac-12. Starting with Arizona State, that’s going to be big for us. We’re going to come out fired up, and you’re going to expect to see our team competing — just as much as we’ve been competing this whole year so far.”

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ASU has dominated the series over the last two seasons, going 6-1. The reigning Pac-12 champs swept last season and held the Wildcats to only two hits over the final two games.

The Wildcats are in a much different space this year and aren’t about to let that happen again.

“We want to start taking the power back a little bit,” Skaggs said. “My last couple years, we haven’t been able to really dominate them yet. I think this is the year that we’re going to try and flip that around.

“Our team is just — we’re so tight-knit. I think that that’s something that we’re really taking into this year is that we’ll play so much for each other. We’ve ridden a lot on talent recently in past years, and now we have the talent, but we also have the community. We have a team that wants to come together and be (a) team. Going into the Pac, that’s where we’re going to see (it). Our team is just ready to band together. It’s a sisterhood, and we’re family. That’s the thing that we have that gives us a little bit of an edge over other teams.”

ASU has a new coach in Megan Bartlett, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Texas. Arizona coach Caitlin Lowe doesn’t think it matter who is at the helm; the Sun Devils are still tough to beat at home.

“They’ve got great numbers,” Lowe said. “They’re hungry at the plate. They’re going to hit, but we’re going to make adjustments.

“I think the biggest thing is when something doesn’t happen how we react and how quickly we respond to that offense. Then being able to get and keep momentum, which is when we have our strengths. This season is just holding on to that and not just letting it come offensively, but coming in defensively too.”

Extra bases

While Lowe doesn’t focus on individual awards, she said that “awards come when you do things the right way on a daily basis, on a weekly basis and then just go about your business.”

Carlie Scupin is tied for second in in the league in home runs (seven) with five others. Netz has six, and Skaggs has four. Scupin also has driven in 23 runs, tying her with three others for fifth in the conference.

If league play seems early this year, it is. The start of the season was moved up a week because of the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament, which will be held in Tucson May 10-13.