No. 10 Arizona softball closes out the Clearwater Invitational with a run-rule victory over Indiana

After starting the Clearwater Invitational losing three close games, No. 10 Arizona softball found its bats on Saturday and Sunday. The Wildcats defeated No. 8 Virginia Tech 6-2 on Saturday evening then returned Sunday morning to run rule Indiana. UA defeated the Hoosiers 10-1 in five innings in their last game in Florida.

Freshmen pitcher Sydney Somerndike got the start and the win to improve to 1-1 on the season. She threw three scoreless innings giving up two hits and no walks while striking out one.

Ali Blanchard came in to relieve Somerndike. She had a little bit of a bumpy outing, surrendering Indiana’s lone run on two hits and three walks in two innings, but she was able to recover from the walks and get the outs she had to have.

On offense, the Wildcats had four players with multi-hit games led by Carlie Scupin, who went 2 for 4 with a home run, two RBIs, and a run scored. Paige Dimler, Tayler Biehl, and Kaiah Altmeyer all went 2 for 2.

Izzy Pacho continued to bounce back from a rough start in Clearwater with a hit, a walk, a sacrifice, and a run scored. After going 0 for 13 in the first three games in Florida, the Wildcats’ catcher now has a hit, two walks, and a sacrifice in her last six plate appearances. Her batting average is back up to .292 after dropping to .261 on Saturday. She now has an on-base percentage of .433.

The Wildcats entered the top of the third with a 2-0 lead after putting two on the board in the second. They broke the game open on five hits, a walk, two errors, and a hit batter that led to seven runs in the inning. Arizona tacked another run on in the top of the fourth.

Indiana scored its lone run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Hoosiers couldn’t keep the rally going long enough to extend the game.

The Wildcats improved to 7-3 on the season and 2-3 in the tournament. They next go to Fayetteville, Ark. to play three games against the No. 4 Razorbacks and two against Drake.