Arizona third baseman Malia Martinez had six RBIs, including a grand slam, as the Wildcats run-ruled Stanford again, 13-2, on Saturday afternoon at Hillenbrand Stadium, completing their fifth Pac-12 sweep to start the season and extending their winning streak to 20 games.
The win improved No. 7 Arizona’s Pac-12 record to 15-0, which leads the conference ahead of UCLA (13-1) and Washington (14-4).
A #MaliaMash to give the Cats a dozen runs in the third! pic.twitter.com/08TL2GZcm2
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) April 20, 2019
The Wildcats (38-7 overall) are off to their second-best Pac-12 start in UA history. Only the 1994 team’s 23-0 start in the Pac-10 is better. The Wildcats won the Women’s College World Series that year with a 63-3 record.
The 20-game winning streak ties for the 15th-longest in program history. The are tied with the 1995 and 2002 teams. Next are three 21-game winning streaks. Arizona plays at last-place Cal (2-13 in the Pac-12) next weekend.
Ten of Arizona’s 15 conference victories have ended via the mercy rule. The Wildcats have outscored their Pac-12 opposition 143-14 over the 15 wins. Arizona has also won nine straight Pac-12 series dating to last season.
Arizona Softball Longest Winning Streaks
[table sort=”desc”]
No.,W,Start,End,Note
1.,47,4/28/1996,3/22/1997,WCWS title 1996 (58-9) and 1997 (61-5)
2.,34,5/20/1994,3/17/1995,WCWS title 1994 (61-3)/Runner-up 1995 (66-6)
,34,2/6/2000,3/19/2000,WCWS third (59-9)
,34,2/6/2004,3/20/2004,NCAA regional (55-6)
5.,32,5/31/1993,3/26/1994,WCWS title 1993 (44-8) and 1994 (61-3)
,32,4/13/2001,2/9/2002,WCWS title 2001 (65-4)/Runner-up 2002 (55-12)
7.,31,2/2/2001,3/14/2001,WCWS title (65-4)
8.,29,4/4/1998,5/24/1998,WCWS runner-up (67-4)
9.,26,4/9/1997,5/23/1997,WCWS title (61-5)
,26,3/3/2017,4/13/2017,NCAA super regional (52-9)
11.,25,5/26/1991,3/7/1992,WCWS title 1991 (56-16)/Runner-up 1992 (58-7)
12.,21,2/13/1993,3/12/1993,WCWS title (44-8)
,21,5/25/1997,3/6/1998 ,WCWS title 1997 (61-5)/Runner-up 1998 (67-4)
,21,2/4/2005,3/16/2005,WCWS fifth (45-12)
15.,20,4/14/1995,5/12/1995,WCWS runner-up (66-6)
,20,2/15/2002,3/14/2002,WCWS runner-up (55-12)
,20,3/15/2019,???,???
[/table]
The Wildcats, who also had a home run by Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza today, tallied their 13 runs off Stanford behind nine hits and seven walks. Palomino-Cardoza, the leadoff hitter, went 2 for 3 to improve her batting average to .366. She has 14 homers with 51 RBIs this season.
🧹 FINAL » #7 Arizona 13, Stanford 2 (5 innings) 🧹
Make it five straight sweeps for the Cats, whose winning streak turns 2⃣0⃣ games today!#BearDown || #RaiseTheA pic.twitter.com/Z2B1ao7rDx
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) April 20, 2019
Martinez’s six RBIs gives her 50 this season with 12 home runs and a .364 batting average. Arizona has three players with at least 50 RBIs — Jessie Harper (55), Palomino-Cardoza (51) and Martinez (50). Dejah Mulipola has 49.
Arizona ace Taylor McQuillin improved to 17-5 with the victory. She carried a no-hitter into the fourth. She finished working four innings, allowing a run on two hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Gina Snyder worked the fifth inning, allowing a run on one hit with a strikeout and no walks.
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