An early home run and five innings of shutout pitching from Devyn Netz lifted No. 13 Arizona to a 2-1 win over No. 14 Texas Tech on Thursday at Hillenbrand Stadium.
The Wildcats battled for five hits and two walks in six innings against former Pac-12 conference foe and Texas Tech ace pitcher NiJaree Canady, who transferred from Stanford to Texas Tech in the offseason.
It was the second conference loss of the season for the Red Raiders, who sit atop the Big 12 standings, one spot and three games ahead of Arizona.
“I can’t say enough about just the entire performance, top to bottom. I thought the mentality and the way they prepared for today was just top-notch, and just super proud of that performance,” Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe said.
Caitlin Lowe: “I thought we needed to make a statement to ourselves, a little bit, that we can play well in all facets.” @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/cOZdI3okrh
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) April 18, 2025
Thursday marked the beginning of the last regular season series for Netz at Hillenbrand Stadium, with her final regular season games at the stadium coming on Tuesday in a doubleheader against New Mexico State.
“It means a little bit more, if anything. This, field has grown me,” Netz said of the significance of the moment. “It’s made me into the kind of pitcher, the kind of hitter, just the kind of person I am today, and I’m so thankful and grateful for this coaching staff this place. It’s just made me who I am.”
Devyn Netz and Kaiah Altmeyer postgame. Devyn talks about her mentality in her final series at Hillenbrand at Arizona. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/tj3P4aWXPZ
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) April 18, 2025
game won ✔️ pic.twitter.com/GHWYvGqjKb
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) April 18, 2025
Lowe said she thought the Wildcats needed to make a statement to themselves that the team can play well in all facets. She thought the team did that on Thursday.
“You know, we can pitch well, we can play good defense, and we can get the timely hit when it matters— we got the timely hit when it mattered,” Lowe said.
Arizona (37-7, 14-5 Big 12) gained the lead at 2-1 in the bottom of the first when Netz hit a two-out, two-run home run to left that brought Kaiah Altmeyer home.
STARTING OFF SENIOR WEEKEND WITH A BANG @DevynNetz sends a moonshot to left on the first pitch! pic.twitter.com/8hb4mdfrSA
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) April 18, 2025
The Wildcats never relinquished the lead, and Netz relieved Miranda Stoddard the circle heading into the third inning.
Stoddard gave up two singles to lead off the game. With one out, Alexa Langeliers singled to first base, scoring Mihyia Davis to give Texas Tech a 1-0 lead.
Texas Tech (34-10, 14-2 Big 12) threatened in the top of the fifth when the Red Raiders hit two singles with one out. With runners on the corners and two outs, Netz recorded the third out when she struck out Hailey Toney.
She retired each of the six batters she faced in the sixth and seventh to seal the win.
In five shutout innings, Netz (17-4) allowed three hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
Arizona looked like it might extend its lead on two occasions, but were unable to add any insurance runs.
Tayler Biehl hit a two-out double off the right field wall, but Emily Schepp got thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the second, and in the bottom of the fifth, Dakota Kennedy tripled to center when centerfielder Davis collided with the wall and dropped the ball. Davis later made up for the dropped ball by diving to snag a line drive from Altmeyer to get the Red Raiders out of the inning.
Arizona plays Texas Tech in game two of the series on Friday at 5 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium.
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