It was a good day for former Arizona Wildcats on the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League opening day. The teams of all four former Arizona stars won, and three of the four competed on opening day.
The AUSL consists of four teams: the Bandits, the Talons, the Volts, and the Blaze. They are not attached to cities but will play games across the country this summer. Things kicked off between the Bandits and the Talons in the Chicago suburbs while the Volts and the Blaze played in Wichita, Kan.
Former Arizona pitchers Devyn Netz and Taylor McQuillin play for the Bandits, while pitcher Miranda Stoddard and catcher Dejah Mulipola suit up for the Volts. Netz, McQuillin, and Stoddard all got onto the field on opening day. Mulipola, who plays in Japan, will join the Volts later. Stoddard is a reserve player filling in for Sam Show, who is also playing in Japan.
Netz and McQuillin played in the league’s first game. Their Bandits came out on top of the Talons by the score of 3-1. Netz got the start at first base while McQuillin came in to pitch relief and maintain the team’s advantage.
Netz didn’t have a great day at the plate, going 0 for 3, but she held down solid defense on the right side of the infield. McQuillin threw the final three innings after Lexi Kilfoyl started. The former Wildcat lefty kept the Talons off the board while giving up one hit and two walks. She held her opponents to a .111 batting average.
Stoddard’s Volts got the win over the Blaze. The Arizona pitcher/infielder started at first base for her team in the 5-1 victory. She went 0 for 2 at the plate.
Both teams will take the field again on Sunday with the Bandits facing the Talons at 11 a.m. MST and the Volts playing the Blaze at 2 p.m. MST.
The teams will wrap up their time in Illinois and Kansas on Monday and Tuesday. They then hit the road for games in Sulphur, LA and Chattanooga, Tenn. All games are available to stream on mlb.com.