After being out with a concussion for nearly a month, Arizona Wildcats shortstop Sophia Carroll returned in fine form last weekend against Washington.
The sophomore had three hits over three games, including a pair of RBIs on Sunday in UAโs 10-9 win that snapped an eight-game losing streak.
โThat was much-needed momentum,โ Carroll said this week. โA big step in the right direction for us.โ
Prior to rejoining the lineup April 1, Carroll had missed 11 straight games while recovering from a concussion suffered in practice in early March. It was Carrollโs first time in her softball career dealing with concussion symptoms, and her road to a full recovery involved numerous hoops to jump through before she could be cleared.
โSo many little steps,โ she explained. โPhysical therapy, I had to be able to get my heart rate up. It took me two or three weeks before I was able to practice.โ
As hard as that time away was for Carroll, Arizona coach Caitlin Lowe sensed a positive change in the teamโs starting shortstop during that stint.
โThe best thing that happened was that she got some perspective,โ Lowe said. โWhen she stepped in on Friday and hit a single up the middle, it was like โwhatโs so hard about this?โ... I think it gave us a spark and helped everybody relax.โ
Carroll spent the 2021 season learning under star Arizona shortstop Jessie Harper, appearing in seven games as a pinch-hitter and going 1 for 7 at the plate. This season, she has the challenge of stepping into a full-time starting spot โ and itโs taken a while for her to adjust.
Carroll had just one hit in her first eight games, but crushed a two-run homer in her ninth game of the year on Feb. 20 vs. Long Beach State. She went on to record at least one hit in seven of her next 10 games before suffering the concussion.
โSophโ, as Lowe calls her, is also among the team standouts defensively.
โJust the most energy Iโve ever seen on defense just being able to cover the field,โ Lowe said.
As the Wildcats (20-12, 1-8 Pac-12) head to Corvallis this weekend to face unexpectedly strong Oregon State (29-8, 5-4), the Wildcats are hoping defense travels. Weather conditions call for a potential soggy, wet field Saturday and Sunday meaning bad hops, slick grass and rain delays could be in store.
Should the Wildcats run into weekend weather delays, Lowe believes itโll be a chance for Arizona to slow down and enjoy the moment โ an occasion thatโs been rare to find while the team worked its way out of an eight-game skid.
โYou get to kind of be yourself in those moments and enjoy your teammates,โ the UA coach said. โThey can even start to focus you even more.โ
