The end of the 2025 Arizona softball season was a class half-empty or class half-full situation. The Wildcats won 48 games, finished second in their inaugural Big 12 regular season, played for the conference title in Oklahoma City, hosted regionals, and had some of the best individual performances by the pitching staff in years. On the downside, they will not be in super regionals for the second time in four years, and it once again came down to not being able to keep the other team off the board.
Before the season, hosting regionals seemed like a good measure of whether the program was progressing under head coach Caitlin Lowe. However, given that the Wildcats had not lost a home regional since Lowe’s freshman season in 2004, that seemed to imply advancing at least to the super regional round.
How much does the result at their home regional undo the work the Wildcats did to get there? Does it matter that Lowe’s program has not advanced to supers for the second time in her four years, with the other time being the year they missed the postseason entirely? Or is it more important that they have been to supers in two of the four years and made the Women’s College World Series once?
Those are tough questions to answer. Arizona did a lot of good things in Lowe’s fourth year as the head coach. There were also some gaping self-inflicted wounds along the way, eventually ending in a too-early departure.
Arizona ended with a 2.60 staff ERA, the lowest since Alyssa Denham (1.95) and Hanah Bown (2.06) led the 2021 staff to a 2.22. Three of the four primary pitchers in 2025 had an ERA well under 3.00. Two of the three returning pitchers who saw innings in 2024 dropped their ERAs, with only Aissa Silva seeing her numbers climb.
In the end, the same thing haunted the pitching staff, though. Home runs killed the team in the postseason, stretching back to their time at the Big 12 Softball Championship tournament in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t the first Arizona team to have that experience, but that doesn’t make it easier to accept.
The Wildcats’ pitchers gave up 14 home runs in eight postseason games. They only kept two teams in the yard. Texas Tech did not hit a home run in the Big 12 title game and Santa Clara didn’t get one in the opening game of regionals, but neither of those teams has a particularly formidable offense, especially when it comes to power.
Ace and all-around star Devyn Netz was responsible for many of them. She gave up a team-high 27 home runs this year in 152.1 IP. Eight of those came in the postseason, with five in regionals.
That’s not a huge surprise, though. It has been her Achilles’ heel throughout her career. A combination of missing over the plate, some high-powered offenses, and a very windy weekend did her no favors in her final games in cardinal and navy.
Arizona also had issues with defense in the postseason, especially at second base. During Lowe’s era, the Wildcats’ pitching mantra has been, “Use your defense.” When the pitching philosophy is built on (and requires) that, breakdowns can lead to a flood of runs.
Both losses to Ole Miss had critical errors at second base in the first inning. The Rebels scored four runs in those two opening frames, and the defense allowed runners on base and extensions of the inning in both cases. It was a different second baseman in each case.
Again, this was not an issue that just cropped up in the postseason. While Tayler Biehl had an uncharacteristic 10 errors this season to lead the team as an individual, second base was the leader in errors when both Kiki Escobar and Logan Cole were both taken into consideration. Cole ended the year with eight and Escobar had six, giving second base a team-high 14 errors on the season.
The two errors against Ole Miss marked the 11th time Arizona had a multi-error game in 2025. They had as many as four this season, accomplishing that ignominious feat twice. They had three in another game. The Wildcats’ 43 errors this season were a jump from 30 last season and 20 in 2023.
It was the worst defensive effort by the team since they had 57 errors in 2022, a year when both middle infielders struggled mightily. Second baseman Allie Skaggs had 11 and shortstop Sophia Carroll had 13 that season. All but three players had at least one error, and none of those three had more than 34 chances.
The Wildcats can look to that year for clues about what they need to do. After her struggles that season, Skaggs said that she wanted to improve her defense and be a Pac-12 all-defensive player. She spent her offseason working on it. The next season, she didn’t commit a single error and was Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Arizona will need Escobar and/or Cole to raise their games in the same way. As long as the team does not have a dominant strikeout pitcher, infield defense will be crucial. Having 14 errors at the position simply isn’t sustainable for the type of team the Wildcats generally have.
As for Biehl, she just needs to settle back into being the player she was in her first two years. She had just three errors as a freshman and five as a sophomore. Having more errors as a junior than she did her entire underclassman tenure seems like an aberration.
The team will bring in two infielders next year. The top two position player signees, Kezia Lucas and Sina Talataina, are infielders with righty power.
Talataina is the highest-rated of the class according to Softball America. Lowe described her as a corner infielder. Jenna Sniffen has been a steady presence at third base, especially for a freshman, but first base needs help. With Arizona losing both Netz and Miranda Stoddard, who patrolled first base when they weren’t pitching, the position is open.
Lucas could have a bit more difficulty finding a place on the field. Her primary positions are third, catcher, and shortstop. All three seemed firmly locked up by starters Sniffen, Biehl, and Sydney Stewart.
There doesn’t even seem to be a lot of room for reserves. Third currently has Anyssa Wild in reserve. Shortstop is probably more open with just Cole as a reserve; the step-up in defensive pressure could be a struggle for her. Neither Sniffen nor Biehl seems likely to need relief unless they are injured, anyway.
The Wildcats already carry three catchers, one of whom saw very little action once conference play started. The other began to get some play at designated player late in the year. No one is likely to take the place of a star like Stewart until she graduates.
Arizona’s biggest need will be in the circle, but there are also needs in the outfield.
The needs in the circle are obvious. Six of the eight pitchers from this year’s team will not be back. The top three in innings pitched were all in their final year of eligibility. Aissa Silva, Sydney Somerndike, and Brooke Mannon are all in the transfer portal.
Truth be told, the only one from the portal trio who was likely to work her way back into the rotation was Silva. Somerndike pitched little to not at all in all three of her years at Arizona. Some of that was due to injury, but no mention was made of injury this season. Mannon got a little more time, but she had trouble with walks in her few innings of work.
That leaves two returners in Ryan Maddox and Sarah Wright. Maddox will be a redshirt sophomore next season, while Wright will be a true sophomore.
Maddox was given every opportunity to take more innings this season. Her appearance as the starter in the Big 12 title game proved that the coaching staff thinks she has what it takes and wants her to show it. She will need to take a big step forward next season as the most experienced returning pitcher currently on the roster.
Maddox pitched more than anyone except the three seniors, but she had difficulties keeping runners off base. Her 1.63 WHIP was higher than anyone except Wright (2.08) or Somerndike (6.00). She struggled with walks, giving up the most on the team (26) despite being fourth in innings pitched.
Wright’s abilities are still fairly unknown to anyone not on the coaching staff. Lowe said she was doing good things in the bullpen, but she last pitched in a game on Apr. 12 at Kansas and saw just 4.1 innings all year.
The outfield has three all-conference players and essentially no one after them. Senior Paige Dimler showed that she could come in and be extremely effective when Dakota Kennedy was injured, but she will also be departing. Next year’s team doesn’t have any depth of that quality if a player gets injured.
The recruiting class has just one outfielder, Molli Daley from Salpointe. Daley had a solid senior year, bringing her average up to .400 from the .293 she hit as a junior. In her four years at Salpointe, she hit .356 with a .430 on-base percentage.
Arizona will have to go into the portal for pitching. Three pitchers, none of whom have more than 43.2 IP in college, will not do the job. The portal is already filling with players, including some strong pitchers. That’s true every year, though.
The questions are what Arizona can afford and who wants to pitch for the Wildcats. Getting the top pitchers has been difficult for Arizona for years, whether they are recruiting from the high school ranks or the transfer portal. Will this be the year the Wildcats get the big one?