OKLAHOMA CITY—The Arizona Wildcats were in their second straight conference tournament semifinal on Friday. Different conference, different result.
Last year, UCLA knocked the Wildcats out of the Pac-12 tournament in a 6-5 comeback win. This year, Arizona was the one coming back on Iowa State in a 6-3 victory. The Wildcats move on to face top-seeded Texas Tech in the final with both teams seeking their first Big 12 Championship crown.
It didn’t come easily. Just like in the quarterfinal game against UCF, the Wildcats fell behind early.
“We knew coming into this game they were going to be a really scrappy team, and they proved that today,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe. “They really made us earn it. And just proud of our players for going down and not skipping a beat and really just chipping away again. Obviously, looking for something earlier in the game, and I think our players are too. We’re getting after it right away, but just really proud of the fight, really proud of the defense, really proud of the fundamentals down the stretch.”
Devyn Netz got the start, and the Cyclones were making solid contact from the beginning. Even some of the outs were solidly hit flies that just went to the Arizona outfielders. ISU catcher Karlee Ford hit her fourth home run of the season to give the Cyclones a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
“She’s a really good pitcher,” senior outfielder Angelina Allen said. “I remember facing her when I was a freshman. She was really great. So, honestly, just seeing a pitch that we can drive. We knew that strikeouts were gonna happen. We knew that mishits were gonna happen. And so it was really just trying to hunt our pitch, whatever our strength is, and just putting good bat to ball on it, and I thought we did that pretty well today.”
Arizona finally got its first hit in the bottom of the second on a one-out single by designated player Emily Schepp. That was wiped away by an inning-ending double play.
The ‘Cats broke through in the bottom of the third. While Iowa State got its first two runs with power, Arizona got its first two without a ball leaving the infield. It started with two outs.
Dakota Kennedy got on for the second time in as many plate appearances. She reached via an error to lead off the game, only to be stranded at third base. In the third inning, it was a hit-by-pitch.
Singles back to the circle by Regan Shockey and Sydney Stewart loaded the bases. That brought up Netz, who helped her cause with a two-run single.
Evaluating and adjusting from one at-bat to the next was critical for the Wildcats. So was assistant coach Amber Freeman.
“Just trying not to be too big and trying not to make the moment bigger than itself,” Stewart said about the mindset behind the adjustments. “Knowing how much game there is left within that game. And I think just sticking to our plan and taking it pitch by pitch. And talking to Ber. She said, just trust my plan and know what they’re throwing me. Learning from my past at-bats. So I felt like…after my first at-bat, I came up with a plan and adjusted, and I feel like we did a really good job as a team.”
The Wildcats didn’t always make things easy on themselves. Aggressive baserunning has been a staple of this team, but it bit them a few times in this outing. The first time came on the single by Netz.
Stewart was thrown out trying to go first to third, ending the inning. Two innings later, Netz was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.
“I think we can be aggressive and still fall back to a different decision,” Lowe said. “Devyn was laughing at me, because I’m always challenging her to press that into a double. And I think there’s instances where you can do that, and then you push it and they make a really good play. So I’m never going to fault the aggressiveness, as long as we’re making smart decisions—smart softball decisions—out there.”
At least the game was tied. It just didn’t last long. A leadoff home run by Allen once again gave ISU the lead.
The Cyclones were fighting for their postseason lives, knowing that they probably needed to win the tournament. An RPI north of 60 will likely keep ISU out of the postseason despite finishing third in the conference. Missing both Texas Tech and Arizona in the regular season didn’t help their cause, nor did early-season struggles by a young team with just two seniors. They fought like a team that wanted that postseason berth.
“The NCAA has their criteria, and they follow it,” said ISU head coach Jamie Pinkerton. “I’ve been in there. They follow it to a T, to much criticism, but in today’s world, I’ve already heard it. I mean, well, you know, you guys didn’t play Texas Tech and Arizona. We don’t control that. When you don’t have a balanced schedule, we’ve got to come up with something different, whether it’s KPI, RPI, a combination, or anything else, I think it’s got to be looked at. And that’s just not the Big 12. That’s for the SEC and the ACC and the Big Ten.”
The much more experienced Wildcats stayed the course despite falling behind a second time. Kaiah Altmeyer led off the bottom of the fourth, right after Arizona had fallen behind 3-2.
Altmeyer has had some struggles over the last few weeks. She had a .385 average after the series against Texas Tech in mid-April. Through two games against New Mexico State, two against San Diego State, and a series against Houston, her average dropped to .361. It was down to .354 after the tournament opener against UCF, and she was down in the six hole this game.
None of it bothered the junior right fielder. She calmly hit a double to right field and took one more base on an error by the defense. Arizona had a runner on third with no outs.
Nothing is guaranteed. The Wildcats had Kennedy on third with one out in the first inning and failed to score.
Schepp hit a fly to right that didn’t go deep enough to be a sacrifice fly. Jenna Sniffen now had the chance with one out. The freshman third baseman came through on her birthday. The ball went just far enough into center for Altmeyer to score, although the throw home was closer than expected. It was a new ballgame for the third time in four innings.
The ‘Cats finally got their first lead of the game in the next inning. Miranda Stoddard hasn’t seen her average fall quite as much as Altmeyer has, but she has had a bit of a drop late in the season. Also like Altmeyer, she had been dropped in the order.
Arizona needed someone with a bit of speed to lead off the fifth. Paige Dimler was the answer. Dimler went in to pinch hit for Stoddard and drew a leadoff walk.
Kennedy’s bunt went for a base hit, putting two runners on with no outs. Shockey almost followed suit, but her bunt ended up as a sacrifice. Now, there were two runners in scoring position.
It turned out that the sacrifice was unnecessary. Arizona had been scoring with singles all game. Now, it was Stewart’s turn to hit one hard. She got all of one to left field. The three-run homer gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game. It was a comfortable 6-3 after five innings.
Saya Swain got the opportunity to face her former team in the sixth. Arizona had the three-run lead and just needed six outs to advance.
“I was kind of bummed that they weren’t on our Big 12 schedule this year just because—I don’t have anything against them or anything like that—t’s like they’re just such a fun team to play against,” Swain said. “Bring my competitive spirit out of me.”
A strikeout and a double play did the trick in the sixth, but Swain ran into problems in the seventh. That familiarity might have come back to haunt her. She struck out the leadoff but walked the next two batters on eight total pitches.
“I kind of struggle a little bit with walks,” Swain said. “And I think they just had that in their back pocket, especially going down three runs, just to be a little bit patient at the plate.”
Netz re-entered the circle with two on and one out. ISU chose to sacrifice the runners over, giving up the second out while down three.
It backfired for the Cyclones. Netz induced the flyout to left field. Kennedy put it away. Arizona moved on.
The Wildcats will face Texas Tech at 9 a.m. MST on Saturday, May 10. The game will air on ESPN. The Red Raiders took the season series 2-1 this year.
Lead photo courtesy of the Big 12 Conference