Softball Adds Four to 2023 Roster

TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona announced the addition of Kaiah Altmeyer, Ali Ashner, Ali Blanchard, and Brianna Hardy to the 2023 roster. Altmeyer is an incoming freshman and Blanchard is a senior transfer from Princeton. Ashner is a junior transfer and Hardy is a senior transfer from back-to-back NJCAA DII champion Phoenix College.
 
Kaiah Altmeyer
Altmeyer joins Arizona's freshman class as a three-time first-team All-Conference selection at Patrick Henry High School in San Diego. As a utility player, Altmeyer was named the most valuable player at Patrick Henry. She also helped her 18U team to a third-place finish at Alliance Nationals and a fifth-place finish at Triple Crown Nationals.
 
Ali Ashner
The 2022 NFCA NJCAA DII Player of the Year, Ashner joins Arizona after winning back-to-back NJCAA DII national championships with Phoenix College. In 2022, she led the NJCAA DII with 109 hits, 36 doubles, 222 total bases, and 64 extra-base hits. Ashner was second in the nation with a .574 batting average and ranked third in on-base percentage (.620) and slugging percentage (1.168).
 
Ashner comes to Arizona with a .565 batting average, 60 doubles, 40 home runs, 143 RBI, and a .957 fielding percentage after two years at Phoenix College.
 
Ali Blanchard
Blanchard earned first-team All-Ivy League honors in 2022 after going 10-4 with a 2.78 ERA at Princeton. She led the Ivy League with 155 strikeouts in 2022, the first Princeton pitcher to record at least 150 strikeouts since 2008. Blanchard tossed 181 innings during her career at Princeton, striking out 235 and holding opponents to a .212 batting average.  
 
The two-time All-Ivy League selection also recorded 36 hits, including five doubles, a triple, and a home run with 18 RBI in her three season as a Tiger. In 2022, she recorded eight multi-hit games and drove in a season-best three runs against Harvard to help Princeton win Ivy League Playoff Series Championship.
 
Brianna Hardy
Hardy led Phoenix College to back-to-back NJCAA DII championships and was named the NFCA NJCAA DII Pitcher of the Year in 2021 and 2022. She also earned NFCA NJCAA DII Player of the Year honors in 2019. In 2022, Hardy went 42-1 with 390 strikeouts to lead the NJCAA DII in both categories while holding opponents to a .159 batting average.
 
In her three-year career at Phoenix College, Hardy amassed a 119-3 record with 1,217 strikeouts and a 1.16 ERA.
 
Altmeyer, Ashner, Blanchard, and Hardy will join five incoming freshman in addition to Arizona's eight returning players for Caitlin Lowe's second season as head coach.