Arizona Splits Day Two
TUCSON, Ariz. – The No. 9 Wildcats (6-2) defeated Loyola Marymount (4-6) but fell to No. 16 Kentucky (8-1) on the second day of the Hillenbrand Invitational.
Game 1 – Arizona 4, Loyola Marymount 3
Arizona beat LMU 4-3 in the first game of the doubleheader. Sharlize Palacios hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Cats an early lead. Allie Saggs ended the game on a walk-off sacrifice fly in the seventh to score Jasmine Perezchica.
Arizona had four runs on four hits, with four RBI. Palacios' home run was her fourth of the season.
Biringer scored Amber Toven – a pinch runner for Palacios – on a single up the middle in the third inning to put the Cats up 3-0. LMU hit a home run in the fourth and scored two in the sixth to tie the game.
Perezchica was walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh. The Lions intentionally walked Palacios and Perezchica advanced to third on a wild pitch. Skaggs scored Perezchica with a sacrifice fly to secure the win for Arizona.
Hanah Bowen (4-1) earned the win, entering the game in the sixth and allowed no runs on one hit.
Game 2 – Kentucky 7, Arizona 6
No. 9 Arizona fell to No. 16 Kentucky 7-6 in a back-and-forth heartbreaker. Three Cats hit doubles, but Kentucky had two home runs to push Kentucky to the win.
Kentucky struck first in the third inning, but Arizona answered back with a two RBI single from Skaggs. Kentucky then hit a two RBI home run that Martinez followed with an RBI single to score Amber Toven who was a pinch runner for Izzy Pacho.
Kentucky scored four in the top of the fifth to regain the lead at 7-4. Carlie Scupin and Blaise Biringer each hit RBI doubles to bring the Cats within one in the bottom of the fifth.
It was a pitcher's duel between Madi Elish and Kentucky's Kennady Sullivan in the final two innings. Sullivan (2-0) came away with the win and Elish fell to 0-1 after giving up the deciding run in the fifth inning.
Up Next:
No. 9 Arizona closes out the Hillenbrand Invitational against Long Beach State at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 20.