So much for early-season jitters.
Arizona’s softball team looked poised and in control as it cruised to a 12-0 run-rule victory over New Mexico Saturday afternoon. After surviving a scare against the Lobos Friday night, the No. 3 Wildcats started the second day of the season by drawing seven walks in two innings. Combined with a couple of singles, it was enough to deliver a 7-0 lead before fans watching the livestream could blink.
Arizona (4-0) finished the day by beating Seattle University, 10-2.
The Wildcats’ patience and precision presented a stark contrast to Friday night’s 5-2 win over New Mexico, in which their offense left six on base and recorded just one run in the first four innings.
“I think everyone was a little nervous,” Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza said Friday. “I mean we haven’t played in 11 months.”
Maybe some of the high expectations got to the players, too. Shortstop Jessie Harper, who entered the season 19 back from Lauren Chamberlain’s all-time NCAA home run record, went 0 for 3 after a 2-for-4 performance in the season-opening 8-0 win over Southern Utah.
Harper was locked in Saturday, going 1 for 1 with three walks and three runs scored. She might have to get used to pitchers avoiding her. Chamberlain registered 62 walks in her senior season, and Katiyana Mauga — who had a program-record 92 home runs as a Wildcat — had 50 in her final year. Harper’s quest to chase down Mauga and Chamberlain might be aided by Arizona’s otherwise powerful lineup.
Palomino-Cardoza, once again in the leadoff spot in her sixth year as a Wildcat, brought her average to .700 with a 2-for-2 performance against New Mexico. Behind her, second baseman Reyna Carranco and catcher Dejah Mulipola each contributed a double to help the Wildcats close the door early against the Lobos.
It was the kind of game where the crowd would have plenty of chances to cheer. However, the coronavirus pandemic means no fans will be allowed at Hillenbrand — at least early in the season.
Even without the noise, the Wildcats know they’re still performing, noting the viewers from afar and those lined up peering through the fence outside the stadium.
“We know they’re watching, so we go out and play for them,” Palomino-Cardoza said Friday.
The offense made so much noise that it overshadowed a near-perfect outing for Hannah Bowen. Arizona’s No. 3 arm made her pitch for more chances in the circle, allowing no hits over five innings with five strikeouts. She worked efficiently, only needing 61 pitches to get through 16 Lobos. Bowen’s only blemish came in the second inning, when she clipped New Mexico third baseman Izzy Owen’s elbow on a 1-2 count. Bowen quickly got the next batter, Reyan Tuck, to ground into a double play.
Bowen may be thinking about that wayward pitch for a while. There have only been nine perfect games in Arizona softball history, and only one — Michelle Floyd’s perfecto in 2017 — in the last decade.
Arizona wraps up the Hillenbrand Invitational against Southern Utah at 3 p.m. Sunday.
