Like a cat ready to pounce on its prey, Arizona infielders have an intense focus when someone gets on base.
The No. 16 Wildcats’ reaction to opponents getting on base is clear and led to a school record.
“If you kind of just look at all of our faces, at least on the infield, when there's runner on first base or honestly anywhere, we're just like, ‘double play, double play,’” said UA sophomore infielder Jenna Sniffen. “We work on it a lot during practice, so I think it's a record we've had our eyes on for a while and it's just really rewarding to see us be able to break it.”
Arizona third baseman Jenna Sniffen draws a bead on a ball hit her way by Coastal Carolina batter Brie Normandin for an out in the second inning of their game of the Bear Down Fiesta, Feb. 13, 2026, in Tucson.
On Sunday, Sniffen caught a line drive and threw an LSU Tiger out at first in the fifth to convert a program-record 34th double play of the season. The record stood since 1995.
After the game, UA assistant coach Lauren Lappin tweeted that she was proud of the Wildcats and is looking forward to adding to the record.
Arizona has nine games left in the regular season, plus the postseason.
UA (30–11, 11-4 Big 12) travels to No. 21 Oklahoma State (28-11, 9-6) for a three-game series this weekend to close out its nine-game road trip.
“I didn't even know until after the game," said UA head coach Caitlin Lowe. "I know that infielders have been hyped on that and it's controlled to where they've worked out here and they get fired up when they when they turn a good one in practice just as much as the game. So I'm pumped for them and they're just an extremely hard-working group of infielders. I think that's a testament to Lappin and how she shows up every day, but man, just their work ethic has been so cool and to watch them kind of set a goal and I think Lap said this, but just like go for it and they did and man, it does fire our team up in a lot of ways when when they execute one.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Wildcats are first in the NCAA with .83 double plays per game. Second place Arkansas has .76, and the next highest in the Big 12 is UCF in seventh with .59.
“It's exciting, I mean we’ve been reaching for this goal for a while now and yeah, like our infielders when we turn ground ball double plays, that’s like what you think of when think double plays but it's also those outfielders who are getting fly balls and throwing people out at home," said UA senior infielder Tayler Biehl. "It's just exciting for everybody and when you achieve goals in all areas of life, it’s always fun to be able to celebrate those, but the job is not done yet and now we have more goals that we're trying to achieve later in the season and still continue to build on this goal and just rack up those double plays as much as we can.”
Arizona shortstop Tayler Biehl plays the generous hop on a shot off the bat of Arizona State’s Samantha Swan to get the Wildcats out of the Sun Devil half of the second inning of their Big 12 game in Tucson on March 20, 2026.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Arizona is tied for third in the Big 12 in fielding (.970). Biehl is sixth in the league in assists (88).
The Wildcats have four players in the top 10 in the Big 12 in fielding double plays (their usual starters in the infield). Sophomore second baseman Sereniti Trice and freshman first baseman Kez Lucas are second with 21, and shortstop Biehl and third baseman Sniffen are eighth with 13.
Lowe appreciates their aggressiveness on defense.
“We've had our moments and at the same time, like the greatest thing … is that any mistake we've made has been a mistake where we're going for it,” Lowe said. “There have been very few lapses of like we're on our heels, we're not expecting something, there might be one offs here and there but really like the aggressive mistakes are exciting to me because they're just playing an offensive mindset and we're getting more ground balls than we've ever gotten in our lives because we have great pitchers who are putting spin on the ball.
“So it's like buying into that, we’re learning how to defend behind it because these are new pitchers, but man, they're like, wholly bought into the process of how great it's going to make us, so that's been really cool progression.”
Although the right side of the infield is new this year, Sniffen and Biehl have started 100 games together. Biehl took over the starting shortstop role in the eighth game of 2024, while Sniffen has been the starter at third base since the start of 2025.
Sniffen said Biehl is her “rock.”
“Oh, it's great, like she said she's my rock, too, and just communicating with her all the time has been great, just knowing each other's range very well and the connection that we have off the field, too, allows us to be even stronger on the field,” Biehl said about playing with Sniffen. “So it's just been fun, she brings so much joy, and she pushes me every day to be better, so it's just great to play alongside a teammate like Jenna.
Extra bases
– Sophomore Jenae Berry has appeared in five of UA's last six games after pitching in just six games in March. She threw 2⅔ innings and 2⅓ innings at LSU and impressed.
Lowe said she was excellent against the Tigers.
Berry’s brother Jacob started his college career at UA before transferring to LSU.
“She had a full group of people that were making a crawfish bowl in the parking lot of our hotel,” Lowe said. “She's like, ‘my brother knows people,’ so they had some good connections and I know they love the Berry family, so it was nice.”
– The Wildcats fell to No. 16 in every poll after dropping two of three at LSU. The week before, Arizona was 11th in the USA Softball rankings and 12th in the NFCA coaches, Softball America and D1 Softball rankings.
Arizona is No. 15 in the RPI as of Wednesday afternoon. Oklahoma State is 22nd.
