Sydney Stewart hit a three-home run in the bottom of the second and Devyn Netz controlled the game from the circle and the plate for No. 15 Arizona in a 5-1 win over Cal State Fullerton to close out the Bear Down Fiesta on Sunday.
Arizona swept the Bear Down Fiesta, beating South Alabama twice, and sandwiched a come-from-behind win over Ohio on Saturday with two wins against Cal State Fullerton.
“It felt good because we did it in some different ways,” Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe said. “We struggled a little bit yesterday and found a way to win, which is a sign of a good team to play some of your worst softball and then pick it up on the other side.”
Arizona had one error on Sunday. The Wildcats have seven errors in the last three games after having only three in their first eight games. Arizona’s four errors led to three unearned runs in a 12-8 win over Ohio on Saturday in which the Wildcats trailed 7-3 in the second inning.
Despite the error on Sunday, Lowe was pleased with how the defense responded.
“I thought it was a huge response,” she said. “I thought the energy was unmatched as far as how they showed up today with a huge sense of urgency for the task at hand. That felt really good.”
Caitlin Lowe is happy with how the team responded on defense today after having some issues with errors the past two games. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/p3iwlFLZlr
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) February 16, 2025
Stewart said she has settled into her role as one of the leaders of the offense since transferring from Washington in the offseason. Her 14 RBIs this season have her tied with Netz for a team high.
“I think it’s just knowing my role and trying to stay as consistent as possible, whether that’s getting on with a walk, or just doing anything for my team,” she said. “A lot of preparation goes into it, too. I try to stay within my routine, whether that’s watching film, or going over old at-bats with coach Amber (assistant coach Amber Freeman). We do a really good job as a team getting locked in and getting prepared for the game.”
Netz (4-1) started in the circle and recorded the win. She had five strikeouts and a walk, allowing one run off four hits in six innings.
“I was making sure that if I did my part on defense and made sure I just rolled the ball to my defense, that they would have my back on offense as well,” Netz said of her performance in the circle.
Netz also had two hits and two RBIs on Sunday.
“It just kind of helps me keep my mind going a little bit,” Netz said of how her offense impacted her performance in the circle. “I’m always someone who kind of thinks too much sometimes. Hitting and pitching sometimes just keeps me level-headed. So, it’s one way to keep me at ease and keep me loose.”
Devyn Netz controlled the game from the circle against Cal State Fullerton. Sydney Stewart and Netz also came up big for the Cats at the plate. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/Y8LUIlIpsU
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) February 16, 2025
Arizona (10-1) scored first with a two-out RBI single by Netz. Paige Dimler singled to load the bases before Jenna Sniffen grounded out to end the inning.
The Wildcats extended the lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the second with a three-run home run from Stewart that scored Tayler Biehl, who had walked, and Kaiah Altmeyer, who reached on a single.
In the top of the fifth, Cal State Fullerton (7-3) got two runners on with no outs after Alexia Lopez singled and Sarah Coccillos doubled down the left field line. With one out, Altmeyer snagged a fly ball near the left field wall from Lulu Sanchez that scored Lopez to make it 4-1. Kristalyn Romulo grounded out to end the top half.
Stewart and Miranda Stoddard singled in the bottom of the fifth, and Netz hit an RBI single through the left side to extend Arizona’s lead to 5-1.
Saya Swain relieved Netz in the circle to begin the seventh and closed out the game.
Arizona plays Stanford (8-0) on Thursday at 5 p.m. in its first game of the Hillenbrand Invitational at Hillenbrand Stadium.
FOLLOW @KEVINMURFEE ON TWITTER! 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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