It wasn’t another perfect game, but redshirt senior Devyn Netz threw another gem for No. 12 Arizona. Netz didn’t give up a hit to the Houston Cougars until the fifth inning. She finished with a line of no runs on two hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts in a complete game. Her defense also committed one error behind her in the 5-0 victory
For most of the game, Arizona’s problem was scoring.
The Wildcats scored 10 runs on 10 hits to take the opening game of the series. They closed it out in five innings. That wasn’t the story of game two.
Arizona had runners on the base paths all day, but the story was already obvious in the top of the first inning. The Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs and didn’t get a run. They left 11 on base through the first five innings, including leaving them loaded twice.
It looked like it was going to be a day when one manufactured run won the game. Arizona manufactured that run in the fifth.
Sydney Stewart led off with a single. It was one of her three hits on a 3-for-3 day with one walk.
Miranda Stoddard drew a walk to put two on with no outs. Tayler Biehl followed with the sacrifice to move both runners into scoring position, then Jenna Sniffen put the ball in the air to score Stewart on a sac fly. It was the first of Stewart’s two runs.
Netz gave up her first hit in the bottom of the inning, but she continued to shut the Cougars down. Arizona went back to having its own difficulty in the batter’s box in the top of the sixth, but the timely hits finally came in the seventh.
It started much like the fifth. Stewart got a single and Stoddard drew a walk to give Arizona two runners with one out.
The young Houston team got flustered. A passed ball allowed both Stewart and Stoddard to move up, but freshman catcher Isabel Cintron tried to get Stoddard at second base. The ball ended up in centerfield, and Stewart trotted home for an insurance run.
Biehl’s RBI single put the Wildcats up 3-0, and there was still just one out. Sniffen stepped in next and hit the ball out of the park to make it 5-0.
Netz went back out to finish the game. She gave up a one-out single, but her defense helped her slam the door. Despite not hitting, second baseman Kiki Escobar had a huge impact on the game. She made a diving catch to get the second out in the sixth inning. An inning later, she put an end to the game by catching a liner and finding the runner off first base for the double play.
Houston and Arizona both feature bullpens of eight pitchers. The Cougars have used five different hurlers over two days, with two going on Friday and three on Saturday. The Wildcats have used three, with Netz throwing a seven-inning complete game, Stoddard going 4.1 innings in a run-rule victory, and Saya Swain pitching the other 0.2 innings in the shortened game.
Before leaving for the road trip, Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe was asked about the philosophy guiding the use of the Wildcats’ large bullpen. Were the coaches concerned about getting the younger pitchers real-game experience to prepare for next season, or was the bigger concern just winning now with as little stress as possible?
“We don’t think of it in terms of this year to next year,” Lowe said. “Honestly, I think it’s more how are we making them their best day to day? And what does our practice week look like to make everyone better? So we’re very much in the present moment and thinking about that…Anyone who’s not getting those reps on the weekend is getting reps against our own team, so they’re getting to face top 25 hitters on a weekly basis, regardless…Everyone is on this team for a reason, and making sure that they’re their best selves at the end of the day is really important. And they have really bought into the Tuesday and Wednesday at-bats.”
Arizona will go for the series sweep on Sunday at 10 a.m. MST.
The Wildcats have already clinched the second seed in the Big 12 Tournament. After finishing in Houston, they will fly to Oklahoma City to prepare for their first game on Thursday, May 8 at 3 p.m. MST.
The Wildcats will open against the winner of the game between the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds. As of Saturday afternoon, that means either UCF or Utah. UCF won the series in Tucson 2-1.