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Cats Collect Season-High 15 Hits in Run-Rule Win

Apr 23, 2021

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Tenth-ranked Arizona Softball put on an offensive clinic on Friday night, run-ruling visiting Utah, 12-1 in five innings to open the four-game series at Hillenbrand Stadium.

The Wildcats plated their dozen runs on a season-best 15 hits, including five home runs. Sharlize Palacios went 3-for-3 with two of those five homers and five RBI.

All nine of the UA starters had a hit in the game, including perfect 3-for-3 nights from Palacios and Malia Martinez. Reyna Carranco went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Jessie Harper went 2-for-3 with a solo homer and an RBI double.

Harper's second-inning home run was the 87th of her career, moving her into a tie for fourth in NCAA history with Wildcat Stacie Chambers. She is three away from becoming the fourth player in NCAA history to hit 90 career homers. 

In the circle, Hanah Bowen picked up the victory in her first career game 1 conference start. She pitched four scoreless, fanning two and allowing three hits. She improved to 5-1 on the season. Devyn Netz pitched the final inning of the game and allowed a run on two hits.

Arizona did the majority of its damage in the second inning, when the Cats plated six runs on eight hits, including back-to-back home runs from Harper and Palacios to open the frame.

UA tacked on the two-point conversion in the third inning when Malia Martinez and Carlie Scupin hit back-to-back homers, UA's second back-to-back sequence of the night.

During that three-inning stretch from the second inning to the fourth, Arizona went 15-for-21 (.714) at the plate with five homers two doubles.

Arizona added four in the fourth. Harper hit an RBI double before Palacios went deep for the second time with a three-run opposite-field homer.

The Utes got on the board with a solo homer in the top of the fifth, but it was not enough to stop the run-rule, as the Cats closed out the 12-1, five-inning win.

The Wildcats improved to 28-8 (7-5) this season while Utah fell to 17-20 (2-11). The two teams meet again on Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium. Game 1 will be a conference game while game 2 will be a nonconference tilt.

GAME NOTES

  • Arizona won its 25th home game in-a-row dating back to last season, tied for the sixth longest home winning streak in school history. If Arizona wins game 1 on Saturday, it will be the longest winning streak at Hillenbrand Stadium since a 70-game home winning streak from 2000-2002.
  • Janelle Meoño extended her hitting streak to 22 games with a second-inning single. It matches Chelsie Mesa's 22-game hitting streak in 2007 as the longest recorded hitting streak in Arizona history since Amy Chellevold's school-record 30-game streak in 1994.
  • Sharlize Palacios' two-homer night was the 10th multi-homer game of the season by a Wildcat and second by her. She had two vs. New Mexico State on April 9. Her two home runs moved her into second on the team with a dozen homers this season, tied for 11th most in Arizona freshman history.
  • Arizona has now won seven straight games vs. Utah and has outscored the Utes 83-12 in those seven games. UA is 40-10 all-time vs. Utah.
  • The Wildcats hit five home runs, their most in a Pac-12 game since 2019. UA now has 66 homers this season.
  • Arizona's 15 hits are the most since April 13, 2019 vs. Grand Canyon (15).