Outfielder Jasmine Perezchica, shown diving to snare a liner into the left-center gap Friday night, helped Arizona defeat Oregon State on Sunday, giving the Wildcats their first series win in Pac-12 play since early March.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

Step 1: Win a game.

Step 2: Win a series.

The Arizona softball team achieved both of those objectives over the weekend, sparking hope that the Wildcats can put together a late-season run similar to last year when they were under .500 in the Pac-12 yet made it to the Women’s College World Series.

After ending a record 14-game conference losing streak Saturday, Arizona again defeated Oregon State on Sunday afternoon at Hillenbrand Stadium. The 6-3 triumph gave the Wildcats (27-22, 5-16 Pac-12) their first series win in league play since the first one of the season at Arizona State March 10-12.

Arizona closes the regular season next weekend against Cal. The Wildcats still have a chance to move into the sixth or seventh spot in the Pac-12 standings, which would enable them to avoid the 8-9 play-in game in the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament — and would put them on the opposite side of the bracket from No. 1 seed UCLA.

Arizona raced to a 5-0 lead against OSU (13-27-1, 4-16-1), then faced some perilous moments in the final innings before hanging on for the victory. Olivia DiNardo and Devyn Netz each drove in a pair of runs. Dakota Kennedy’s solo home run in the fourth made it 5-0. It was the freshman’s second home run in as many games and her ninth of the season.

Abby Doerr’s two-run homer in the top of the fifth off Netz made it 5-2. Allie Skaggs answered with a solo homer in the bottom half of the inning to make it 6-2.

That was the score in the top of the sixth when the Beavers loaded the bases with one out. Netz got out of the jam via a 1-2-3 double play.

That was critical because Doerr was due up next. She led off the top of the seventh with a solo home run to make it 6-3.

The Beavers had the tying run at the plate with two outs in the seventh. Morgan Howey hit a comebacker to Netz, who fired to first to end the game.

Netz (14-14) allowed three runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings out of the bullpen. Sydney Somerndike started and did not allow a run in 2.1 frames.

Kennedy had three of the Wildcats’ seven hits and scored three of their six runs. She raised her season batting average from .339 to .358 during the series.

The Cal series begins Friday at 7 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium. The Pac-12 Tournament, also at Hillenbrand, starts May 10.

Arizona center fielder Jasmine Perezchica robs Oregon State of a home run in the first inning of their game on April 30, 2023, at Hillenbrand Stadium. (video via Arizona Softball Twitter)

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