Cats Sweep Doubleheader, Clinch Series
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Ninth-ranked Arizona swept Friday's doubleheader, beating Stanford 6-1 in game 1 and 5-3 in game 2 to extend its winning streak to seven consecutive games and improve to 21-5 (5-2 Pac-12) this season.
The Wildcats will go for the four-game series sweep on Saturday at 12 p.m MST.
Game 1: #9 Arizona 6, Stanford 1
No. 9 Arizona clinched the series win over Stanford, downing the Cardinal, 6-1 in Friday's first game.
For the second straight game, UA used a dominant complete-game effort from its starting pitcher to lead it to victory. After Alyssa Denham no-hit the Cardinal on Thursday, Hanah Bowen (4-0) took a no-hitter into the fifth, where it was ended by a solo homer with two outs, the first Stanford hit of the series. In all, Bowen allowed the one run on just two hits while striking out six and walking two. She did not allow a Stanford base runner to reach scoring position all night.
Offensively, the Cats plated their six runs on eight hits, with freshmen driving in four of UA's six runs. Carlie Scupin led the way with a double, a triple and two RBI.
Arizona opened the scoring with two runs in the in the top of the second, using a Malia Martinez single and a Carlie Scupin double to put a pair in scoring position for the 8-9 hitters in UA's order. Allie Skaggs poked a single up the middle to score one and then Isabella Dayton produced a second run with a groundout.
The Cats doubled their lead in the fifth. With two on and two out, Scupin ripped her first-career triple into the right field corner to plate a pair, her second extra-base hit of the day.
In the bottom of the fifth, a two-out solo home run by pinch-hitter Aly Kaneshiro marked the first Stanford hit of the series. It cut UA's lead to 4-1.
The Cats plated two more in the top of the sixth, using an Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza RBI triple followed by a Jessie Harper RBI single to give Arizona its largest lead of the day at 6-1.
The lead would stand as Bowen closed the door in the sixth and seventh to secure the victory for Arizona.
Game 2: #9 Arizona 5, Stanford 3
Dejah Mulipola hit a three-run home run and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza went 3-for-4 with two RBI as the Cats completed the sweep with a 5-3 win in the nightcap on Friday.
Arizona raced out to a 5-0 lead before a pair of home runs cut the UA lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but Devyn Netz closed the door in the circle with 2.1 innings of nearly perfect relief, allowing just one base runner in the eight batters she faced. She earned her first career save with the dominant outing. She replaced Mariah Lopez, who surrendered three runs on five hits with three strikeouts over 4.2 innings. Lopez improved to 4-1 on the season with the win.
The Wildcats pounded out 11 hits in the game, with seven combined from UA's 3-5 hitters -- Palomino-Cardoza (3-for-4, 2 RBI), Mulipola (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and Jessie Harper (2-for-4, 1 RBI).