This weekendβs NCAA Regionals mark a homecoming for two shortstops from the state of Arizona β neither of whom play for the UA.
Ole Miss freshman Blaise Biringer and UMBCβs fifth-year senior Maddie Daigneau returned home for the regionals, which continued Saturday at Hillenbrand Stadium.
Biringer, a Nogales native who played at Cienega High School, started 52 of the 55 regular season games for the Rebels, hitting .328. Saturday, she went 2 for 4 with a double in Ole Missβ 12-6 loss to the Wildcats.
Biringerβs opponents included a few close friends. She played alongside Arizonaβs Carlie Scupin, Izzy Pacho and Alayna Hicks on the Oro Valley Sun Cats club team.
Daigneau, a New River native who attended Boulder Creek High School, is wrapping up a prolific college career. UMBCβs leader in triples (16) was excited to step onto the field at Hillenbrand. She led off Fridayβs game against the Wildcats with a hit off UA pitcher Hanah Bowen.
βI actually was pretty relaxed,β Daigneau said. βIt was cool to play at such a great stadium on such a beautiful field. β¦ it felt like home.β
The 90-club
Arizona fans had been on Jessie Harper home run watch since May 9, when she belted her 89th career longball.
No. 90 came in the bottom of the third inning Friday night, giving Arizona a 2-0 lead against UMBC. It came on a pitch that wasnβt high enough from Retrieversβ pitcher, Courtney Coppersmith, who entered the game with the third-best era (0.65) in the nation.
βYouβre going up against the best of the best at this point, Coopersmith said. βYou leave one even just a little tiny bit fatter β¦ itβs gonna leave.β
Harper is now tied with UCLAβs Stacey Nuveman for third-most all-time. Oklahomaβs Lauren Chamberlain holds the all-time record with 95; ex-Wildact Katiyana Mauga is second with 92.
Steady fielding
Arizonaβs defense has been sharp all weekend.
Malia Martinez has a .950 fielding percentage at third base, while Harper, the Wildcatsβ shortstop, carries a .969 mark.
The Wildcats currently sport the highest team fielding percentage β .986 β in program history. Should it hold, Arizonaβs mark would be second all-time; Tennesseeβs posted a .988 mark in in 2007.
Harper credits coach Mike Candrea for the Wildcatsβ strength in the field.
βCoach is an amazing fungo hitter β heβs pretty special,β Harper said. βHe can say, βI want the ball in that corner right there,β and he hits it to us. He tests us a lot at practice, but we have a lot of senior leadership and a lot of infielders that have been here before. β¦ I definitely say itβs coachβs magic fungo.
βHeβs pretty special. Heβs out there hitting every single day. Even when his back hurts, heβs working extra hard for us to make sure that weβre prepared. All props to coach.β
Inside pitch
UA director of recruiting operations Stacy Iveson was inducted into the NJCAA Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame for her coaching career at Pima College and Yavapai College. She won two championships at each school and was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year four times over her nine years.
Through its first two games of the regional, Arizona has amassed 21 hits and belted five home runs. Mulipola hit two of those long balls β including one that cleared the left-field bleachers Saturday. She was held hitless in Fridayβs opener. βThis morning I woke up, it was a new day, the sun is still shining but it wasnβt the end of the world, and I went to (UA assistant coach) Cait (Loweβs) office and watched a little bit of film,β Mulipola said. βIβve said in previous interviews that she is a big part of why I have success at the plate. We bounce a lot of ideas off of each other. She tells me what I do what I need to adjust. We just had a game plan moving into today. And it worked.β
Photos: Arizona Wildcats outlast Ole Miss 12-6 in Saturday's NCAA softball regional
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Arizona's Dejah Mulipola (8) flips her bat and watches her no-doubter two-RBI homer clear the left field grandstand to give the Wildcats a much needed cushion with two out in the bottom of the sixth against Ole Miss in their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021. The homer was Mulipola's second of the day in the 'Cats 12-6 win.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Arizona's infielder Malia Martinez (17) tracks down a chopper on the line by Ole Miss' Paige Smith (9) in the third inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Ole Miss' shortstop Blaise Biringer (1) watches Arizona's Sharlize Palacios (18) trot around second on her grand slam in the second inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021. The blast staked the Wildcats to a 8-0 lead.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Arizona's second baseman Reyna Carranco (5) gets an akward hop on a deflected ball hit by Ole Miss' Autumn Gillespie (24) that ended up a base hit in the first inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Arizona's shortstop Jessie Harper (19) just comes up short of snaring a looping liner by Ole Miss' hitter Blaise Biringer (1) in the second inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Arizona's first baseman Carlie Scupin (20) chases down Ole Miss' Nyomi Jones (34) after fielding her sac bunt in the second inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Arizona's third baseman Malia Martinez (17) loses Ole Miss' Abbey Latham's (30) short looper in the sun, but shortstop Jessie Harper (19) rescued the play for a force out at third in the sixth inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Ole Miss' left fielder Jessica Puk (20) manages to keep Arizona's Alyssa Palomino (32) long flay ball in the park but can't make the catch, letting in the Wildcat's 12th and last run of the game in the sixth inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Arizona's left fielder Janelle Meono (6) makes a long run but can't get to a slicing liner by Ole Miss' Blaise Biringer (1) giving the Rebels hope down 12-6 to the Wildcats in the bottom of the seventh inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021.
University of Arizona vs Ole Miss
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Arizona's first baseman Carlie Scupin (20) drifts into foul ground to glove a soft fly ball by Ole Miss' Mikayla Allee (6) in the second inning of their NCAA regional second round game at Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021.
