Back in her hometown, Yale junior pitcher Nicole Conway frustrated and fooled the Arizona Wildcats' batters for nearly five innings Friday night.
And ultimately, it was the Tucson High alum, Carlie Scupin, who finally cracked the Catalina Foothills grad. Scupin lifted a two-run single to break Conway’s shutout, sending the No. 9 Wildcats to a 5-1 victory after the Bulldogs led by a lone run for most of the game.
One inning later, Allie Skaggs, from Oro Valley’s Ironwood Ridge, blasted a three-run shot to center, ending any hope of an upset.
"It’s frustrating when you’re out there and the other team is getting hyped, like 'man, we need to turn this around,'" Skaggs said. "But all it takes is one small thing.
"And (Carlie) has been so clutch so many times for us. You just know it’s going to happen."
Scupin’s momentum-swinging line drive came after Arizona had left five runners on base over the first four innings, including stranding the bases loaded with no outs in the third.
After Conway had thrown six straight balls at one point, she struck out Sharlize Palacios on a changeup that seemed to fly in slow motion past the Arizona catcher, catching the inside half of the plate at belt level. Then, Scupin popped up to shortstop, and Izzy Pacho skied the first pitch she saw in foul territory.
As Yale first baseman Willa Ferrer snatched the lazy popup, the other fielders raucously celebrated. With the heart of the Arizona order coming up empty a second time, the Bulldogs seemed to believe they might be able to pull this incredible upset only hours after losing 9-0 to Marist.
That belief intensified when Conway escaped another jam, runners on first and second with no outs, in the fourth inning. After Hannah Martinez’s sacrifice bunt, Yale turned a double play on a Giulia Koutsoyanopulos’ screaming line drive to shortstop.
Skaggs said the Wildcats relied on their experience in overcoming 3-0 and 4-0 deficits to Iowa State and Boise State last week to fuel this comeback.
"We know we can," Skaggs said. "We just hadn’t quite seen it yet against a great team, so doing two of those great wins is what is propelling us and will get us ready for Pac-12 play."
Arizona’s shaky offensive start didn’t derail pitcher Devyn Netz, who moved to 7-1 with a 1.70 ERA on the season.
After allowing a two-out solo homer to Yale catcher Sam Goodcase in the first inning, Netz gave up zero runs and just two hits with eight strikeouts over the remaining 6.1 innings. Coach Caitlin Lowe doesn’t worry how Netz will respond in those situations, noting Netz "gets really upset when she does that." But as the new ace of the staff, Netz hopes to correct the issue. She’s given up seven home runs despite allowing just 12 total earned runs this season.
"I kind of always have those nervous butterflies in the beginning, but I feel like if I don’t have those, then I don’t have love for this game anymore," Netz said.
"But I know I’ve been giving those up lately, and that’s something I’ve been working on pretty hard."
Arizona continues play at the Bear Down Fiesta with a Saturday doubleheader. The Wildcats will take on UNLV at 4 p.m., with a game against Marist to follow.
