Softball transfer season is here, and the Arizona Wildcats have already lost a key player.
Olivia DiNardo, who just completed her sophomore season at UA, posted on X (Twitter) Thursday that she was a free agent and thanked Tucson.
DiNardo was a highly-recruited player who was ranked the No. 2 catcher in the class of 2022 by Extra Inning Softball. In both seasons at Arizona, she split duties between catching and designated player. In 2022, she earned Pac-12 all-freshman team honors, hitting a team-high .382 to go with seven homers, 10 doubles and 36 RBIs. She also ranked third among league freshmen in batting average, doubles and on-base percentage (.458).
As a sophomore, she missed six games with a hamstring injury and again spent much of the season at DP. She hit .291 with 12 home runs and four doubles with a slugging percentage of .574. The Wildcats lost in the Super Regionals at Oklahoma State last weekend.
DiNardo is the second catcher to leave the Wildcats in the last few years. Sharlize Palacios, who went to UCLA with Janelle Meono after the 2022 season, is now playing in the Women's College World Series. She is a second-team All-American.
The Wildcats have plenty of bodies behind the plate with rising sophomore Emily Schepp, who started 46 games this season. They also have incoming freshman Emma Kavanagh, who is ranked the No. 3 catcher by Extra Inning Softball.
