Led by senior pitcher/infielder Devyn Netz, Arizona won another conference road series but dropped the finale after two dominant wins for the second straight week.
On Saturday, the No. 9 Wildcats (31-6, 8-4) fell to BYU 9-4. UA won the series in its first trip to Provo, Utah, after Netz won two games as a pitcher, including a perfect game to open the series. She also hit two home runs.
Arizona’s Devyn Netz (34) and Miranda Stoddard (11) lock in for the first play of the game against Alabama in the Candrea Classic on Feb. 8, 2025.
On Saturday, the Wildcats left 11 on base and went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position after dropping eight and 15 runs on the Cougars on Thursday and Friday.
Netz opened up the scoring on Saturday with a 3-run homer. In the bottom of the second, freshman pitcher Ryan Maddox gave up a hit and a walk but struck out three Cougars.
In the second, junior utility Kaiah Altmeyer drove in Dakota Kennedy after the junior outfielder hit a double.
Senior infielder Keila Kamoku hit a solo homer in the second to score BYU’s first run in the second frame. In the third, BYU got a single and a walk, but against Maddox stranded multiple Cougars on the bases.
BYU knocked Maddox out of the game in the fourth after getting a couple runners on. Graduate student Saya Swain relieved her, but Cougar junior utility Lily Owens hit an RBI double and freshman catcher/infielder Ilove’a Brittingham hit a 3-run homer to give BYU its first lead of the series.
In the fifth, Netz came in to pitch for the third day in a row after Swain gave up a walk. She retired three Cougars in a row to strand another BYU runner.
In the sixth, Arizona stranded two players in scoring position. Then in the home half of the sixth, Brittingham hit a 2-RBI double. Senior utility Lindy Milkowski then hit a 2-run homer for the Cougars.
Arizona threatened in the seventh inning but stranded three runners.
Maddox went 3 1/3 innings, giving up six hits, two walks and three earned runs. Swain pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up two hits, a walk and two earned runs while getting a strikeout.
Netz went two innings, giving up four hits, a walk and four earned runs. Swain took the loss, dropping to 3-3.
Arizona opened the series with an 8-0, 5-inning win at BYU as Netz threw a perfect game and hit a home run on Thursday.
It’s the 11th perfect game in Arizona history and the first of her career. The UA’s last perfect game was Feb. 9, 2024, against Lipscomb by then-freshman Brooke Mannon and Ali Blanchard.
The last time the Wildcats had a perfect game against a conference opponent or a foe from a power conference was when Kenzie Fowler had one against Oregon State in 2010. UA’s last perfect game on the road came in 2005 at UNLV by Alicia Hollowell.
At the plate, Netz hit a 2-run homer in the fifth to extend Arizona’s lead to 8-0 and get to the eight-run mercy rule.
Graduate student pitcher/infielder Miranda Stoddard hit a 2-run home run in the second to score UA’s first runs.
Then in the third, UA added four more. First, junior utility Sydney Stewart knocked in a run, and then freshman infielder Anyssa Wild drove in three with a double.
Going into the series, BYU (21-8, 5-4) was tied for third in the Big 12 with a 4-2 conference record, first in the league in pitching (1.90 ERA) and fielding (.976 fielding percentage) and fifth in the conference in batting (.310 average).
On Friday, Arizona took the series with a 15-6 win.
UA had 17 hits, led by junior infielder Tayler Biehl, who had four, and Kennedy and Stoddard, who each had three. Stewart and junior infielder Logan Cole each had three RBIs.
Arizona struck first when Altmeyer got an RBI with a fielder’s choice. BYU scored its first run of the series and tied it up with an RBI single by junior first/third baseman Maddie Udall-Woolle.
Kaiah Altmeyer hit an RBI double against Utah at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium on Saturday, March 15, 2025.
In the third, the Wildcats scored three. First sophomore utility Regan Shockey scored on a wild pitch, and then Stewart hit a 2-run homer. The Cougars scored one in the third on a fielder’s choice.
Kennedy scored on a wild pitch in the fourth, followed by a bases-loaded walk by Stewart and a two-run single by Stoddard.
In the home half of the fourth, BYU scored three more after a bases-loaded hit by pitch and back-to-back singles.
In the fifth, Kennedy drove in a run. Then in the sixth, UA reached double-digit runs when Biehl hit an RBI triple.
A half inning later, BYU cut the lead to 10-6 with a solo home run from junior shortstop/catcher Hailey Morrow.
In the seventh, Altmeyer hit an RBI single, then Cole hit a bases-clearing triple and freshman infielder Jenna Sniffen got an RBI single.
Netz (14-3) got another win after entering the circle in the fifth. She went three innings, giving up two hits, a walk and an earned run while striking out a pair of Cougars. Stoddard started the game and lasted two innings, giving up four hits and a walk but no earned runs. Mannon, Maddox and Swain also pitched in relief.
The Wildcats return home to host Oklahoma State (21-9, 4-3) for a three-game series starting Friday.
Extra bases
— The Wildcats finished 7-1 against teams from Utah. Arizona beat Weber State 13-3 and Utah State 8-0 in solo games and swept Utah in a three-game series.
— Cole, a Salpointe Catholic High School alumna, got her triple off former high school teammate and BYU senior Alyssa Aguilar. Cole and Aguilar each won three state championships in high school, only interrupted by the 2020 tournament getting canceled. BYU’s other Salpointe alum, sophomore pitcher/outfielder Gianna Mares, didn’t appear in the series.
