A walk-off solo home run from Kaiah Altmeyer helped No. 19 Arizona edge Arizona State 3-2 to take game one of the series on senior weekend at Hillenbrand Stadium on Friday.
Entering the bottom of the seventh with the game tied at 2-2, the usually potent Arizona lineup had just five hits and had stranded five runners on base against ASU pitcher Deborah Jones.
With one out, Altmeyer’s solo home run had just enough on it to sail over the fence in left-center field to seal the win for Arizona (29-13-1, 10-9 Pac-12).
Altmeyer didn’t think it had enough to make it out.
“I thought it was definitely a gap ball off the fence,” she said. “Off the bat I did not think it was out for sure.”
She says Arizona assistant coach Josh Bloomer and head coach Caitlin Lowe instructed the team to be aggressive against Jones early in the count.
Something Altmeyer said ultimately paid off.
“I just think we were good swinging early in the count, being aggressive and swinging at our pitches,” she said.
Lowe says the team may have been a bit too enthusiastic leading into the game because they were so excited for the series opener against the Sun Devils.
“They were amped today and almost had to settle into that game because they were really excited to play it, so just really excited to get game one under our belt and make adjustments here into game two,” she said.
Aissa Silva (19-4) struck out six, allowing three hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
Kelsey Hall’s two-run home run in the top of the first gave Arizona State (18-23, 2-14 Pac-12) an early 2-0 lead.
Arizona evened the score in the bottom of the second.
Blaise Biringer scored from third on a throwing error to cut into Arizona State’s lead, and Altmeyer’s one-out RBI double tied the game at 2-2.
Arizona got two on base in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of two-out singles from Allie Skaggs and Biringer, but Emily Schepp flied out to center to end the inning.
The game remained locked at 2-2 after a 1-2-3 inning for Arizona State in the top of the seventh that ended with Silva striking out Shannon Cunningham.
Arizona plays Arizona State tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com writer Kevin Murphy was born and raised in Tucson, and has followed Arizona Wildcats athletics since childhood. Murphy is a journalist product manager with the Green Valley News & the Sahuarita Sun. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.
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