For the 34th time in 37 trips to the NCAA Tournament, and the 26th time at Hillenbrand Stadium, Arizona will be hosting an NCAA softball regional final. But unlike almost all previous instances, the Wildcats will be the team that cannot lose if they want to advance.
By beating Grand Canyon 4-1 on Saturday night, Arizona (47-12) sets up a battle with Ole Miss (39-17) for a spot in the Super Regionals. The Rebels only need one win, while the Wildcats must win twice.
It’s the first time since 1999 that the UA has entered the final day of regional play needing two wins. None of the Wildcats players were born then, and coach Caitlin Lowe was five years away from her freshman season.
Will needing to win two instead of one change the approach on Sunday?
“Not at all,” Lowe said. “I feel like we’re just cutthroat, ready to get after it, compete pitch to pitch. We’re a team full of dogs, and they’re ready to go. And they know that when they use each other, and they have each others’ backs, and they throw punches the whole time, and they play smothering defense, and that’s our identity. When we settle into that it doesn’t matter how long it takes, we’re just going to chip away tomorrow and get to work.”
Below is what Lowe and seniors Devyn Netz and Miranda Stoddard had to say after the win over GCU:
Lowe on the win: “Just super proud of our fight and our greediness to get away with the win today. I think Miranda set a huge tone for us right off the bat, that our offense followed with, and made the adjustments throughout the game. I thought Dev, with a big adjustment in that home run at-bat, and then just super proud of her for coming in and closing the deal. Ready to get after it tomorrow.”
On the defense after some early miscues vs. Ole Miss: “They were absolutely nails, all top to bottom. I thought Jenna Sniffen did a great job, the entire infield, and then Kaiah (Altmeyer) at the wall was huge. (Sydney Stewart) was working for that drop all man all night, and you can tell, just earning some strikes for Miranda.”
Stoddard on her early home run: “It’s super exciting, obviously, anytime there’s a home run, and we just try to take the momentum that comes from a big hit like that, and carry it on to the rest of the game. Obviously, we’re not always trying to hit home runs, but when you do, it’s a great way to shift the momentum in our direction. It’s great to just get on the board. Obviously we want a little bit more than one run, some insurance runs that we ended up getting. It feels great to be able to contribute on that side of the ball and then go back out there and keep shutting them out.”
On the approach to GCU: “We played them, obviously, earlier in the season, and had some success against them. We were able to keep them down. So for me, just keeping the ball low in the zone, and then also kind of surprising with some in the zone and just trusting my defense behind me that if they put it in play my team behind me will clean it up.”
On being able to catch a line drive right back at her: “Some of that is reaction, luck, safety. I think that we practice that all the time, just PFP, doing that at practice. It definitely helps to be at a corner (position) getting some of those hot shots otherwise. It’s great when you can make a big play like that. Another momentum shifter.”
On being comfortable in high- and low-scoring games: “There’s no style points, right? So any game like that can pull out a win is a win. So I think that obviously there’s times where we’re going to dominate, there’s times where we’re going to win on offense, times we’re going to win on defense. Being able to be comfortable in all those situations and find a way to win, and find a way to stick to our plan and execute it is so important. Especially moving forward playing the same team twice tomorrow, I’m sure that those two games will not look the same. So just being comfortable whatever is thrown at us.”
Netz on the adjustment she made on her 2-run homer: “I’m going tip my cap to Regan Shockey, she’s my hitting coach that game. She said, why don’t you get your foot down with a little bit earlier? And that’s what I did. And I saw something in, which they were beating me in a little bit.”
On striking out 3 batters in the 7th after allowing a homer in the final inning at GCU last time: “When you play a team like that, it kind of lives in the back of your mind. So it’s something that, as a pitcher, you kind of want to make sure that you’re spinning the ball well, you’re moving it through the zone. So I think in that moment, just to pick up Miranda and just make sure she gets that win as well, just to make sure that I’m doing my job as a pitcher and spinning it as much as I can.”