Arizona softball gets a run-rule victory over Oregon State to end the series

On Friday evening, Arizona softball couldn’t figure out Oregon State freshman pitcher Sarah Haendiges. On Sunday morning, the Wildcats were able to salvage a win in the series by chasing her after the second inning on the way to a 9-1 run-rule victory in five innings. Arizona had already jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the time.

The top of the order did most of the damage for Arizona. Catcher Sharlize Palacios went 3-for-4 from the two-hole and knocked in four runs. She had a double and a home run, raising her season batting average to .258. She now has 9 hits in 34 at-bats during conference play.

Allie Skaggs was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI hitting in the three-spot. The Wildcats also got hits from Jasmine Perezchica, Bailey Thompson, and Blaise Biringer as they added runs in every inning except the first.

Several plate appearances by Arizona hitters could have easily been ruled hits, but the official scorer at Oregon State continued the practice of being very aggressive with assigning errors. The tendency cropped up all weekend and resulted in five errors being assigned to Beavers’ fielders on Sunday, at least some of which were open for debate. As a result, none of the four runs scored on Haendiges were charged as earned runs and only two of the five runs given up by fellow freshman Ainsley Lambert were called earned.

Senior pitcher Hanah Bowen controlled things in the circle for the Wildcats. She gave up three hits in five innings. She walked two and struck out five while giving up one earned run on a home run to Kiki Escobar.

Arizona heads home with a 21-14 overall record and a 2-10 record in Pac-12 play. The Wildcats return to Tucson to host Oregon next week. Due to the Easter holiday, the games will be held Thursday through Saturday.