Three Homers Push Wildcats Past Thunderbirds

TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona (2-0) beat Southern Utah (0-3) to close out day 1 of the Candrea Classic. The Wildcats scored 15 runs on 13 hits and held Southern Utah scoreless on only two hits.
 
Three Wildcats hit home runs, including a three-run homer from Allie Skaggs in the first inning. Sharlize Palacios and Carlie Scupin also homered in the game. Blaise Biringer, Giulia Koutsoyanopulos and Izzy Pacho each hit doubles.  
 
Starter Devyn Netz (1-0) picked up the win for the Cats, allowing two hits but kept the Thunderbirds scoreless. Netz struck out six of the 11 batters she faced. Madi Elish pitched the final two innings in relief for Netz, not allowing Southern Utah to score on two hits.
 
Arizona took an 11-0 lead in the first inning. Palacios homered to left field to score Blaise Biringer. The Cats batted around the lineup and Skaggs hit her second home run of the season to score Palacios and Meoño at the end of the first inning.
 
The Cats took advantage of wild pitches in the third inning to score three more. Southern Utah walked Palacios with the bases loaded to score Jasmine Perezchica. Meoño also scored on a wild pitch.
 
In the third inning, Koutsoyanopulos hit her first career double and scored after advancing to third on a wild pitch. The Cats scored their 15th run of the game in the fourth inning on a sac-fly from pinch-hitter Amber Toven.
 
Southern Utah (0-3) had four hits but were kept scoreless by Netz and Elish.
 
Up Next:
The No. 9 Wildcats play No. 2 Alabama in their first Top-25 matchup of the season on Saturday, February 12 at 6 p.m. MST on the second day of the Candrea Classic.