No. 20 Arizona played three close, competitive games at No. 7 Stanford this week. The Wildcats just couldn’t find a way to win any of them.
Arizona dropped the series finale 3-1 Saturday, clinching a sweep for the host Cardinal.
The Wildcats suffered their seventh consecutive loss in Pac-12 play, dropping their record to 24-15, 3-9. Arizona hosts No. 3 UCLA for a three-game series starting Friday.
On Saturday, the Wildcats again struggled to generate any offense vs. Stanford ace Alana Vawter. Vawter struck out only one batter but limited Arizona to five hits.
Vawter started the series opener and pitching in all three games. She allowed just one earned run in 16 innings.
Vawter outdueled Devyn Netz, who yielded three runs on seven hits in 4⅔ innings. Vawter’s RBI single off her counterpart in the fifth gave the Cardinal (31-6, 8-4) a 2-1 lead. Taylor Gindlesperger’s sacrifice fly made it 3-1.
Freshman Aissa Silva relieved Netz and and did not allow a hit in 1⅓ innings. Fellow freshman Dakota Kennedy’s solo homer in the second inning accounted for the Wildcats’ only run. Kennedy went 2 for 2 and also reached base on a hit-by-pitch.
