Arizona Softball

Arizona sweeps New Mexico State, Netz gets a golden ticket

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Arizona players celebrate with Devyn Netz, who was selected by the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, in a ceremony following the game on Tuesday. (Arizona Athletics)

No. 13 Arizona picked up a doubleheader sweep over New Mexico State on Tuesday at Hillenbrand Stadium, beating the Aggies 3-0 in game one and 13-0 in five innings in game two.

Following a low-scoring shutout in game one, Arizona’s bats came alive in game two, tallying six home runs — including three from Sydney Stewart.

Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe said the difference between the scoring from game one to game two on Tuesday came down to the lineup settling into New Mexico State’s level of pitching and working themselves into counts in at-bats following a series against Texas Tech in which the Wildcats faced standout pitcher NiJaree Canady three times.

“It’s not someone going at you right away at 74 miles per hour,” Lowe said of New Mexico State’s pitching. “We have to just be able to play our game within whatever challenge the day brings. I think we didn’t respond to that very well in the first game, and that we did respond to that and stepped up to the challenge the second game.”

Arizona (39-9, 14-7 Big 12) had 15 hits to New Mexico State’s four in game two and stranded only two runners.

Stewart hit a two-run home run to get things going for Arizona in the bottom of the first inning, and she added home runs in the third and fourth innings.

It was the first three-home run game of her college career.

Stewart said the team was “playing free and having and having fun” in game two.

“I think at the end of the day, we just tell each other to pass the bat, and once one person gets a hit, the energy kind of just trickles down to everyone,” she said.

Jenna Sniffen, Emily Schepp and Devyn Netz accounted for the other three home runs.

Miranda Stoddard picked up the win to move to 10-0 on the season. She allowed four hits with one strikeout and two walks in four innings.

In the opener, Arizona scored three runs on one play in the second inning on what resembled a little league inside-the-park home run.

Tayler Biehl hit a bunt single but there was an error on the throw to first that ended up scoring Sniffen, Stewart and herself, clearing the bases.

Netz (18-5) got the win in the circle in game one, allowing one hit with four strikeouts in four innings.

New Mexico State (22-24) had six hits combined in the doubleheader.

In a ceremony following the doubleheader, Netz was presented with a golden ticket as one of 12 college softball players to be selected by the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. She and the 11 others will be drafted at the AUSL College Draft on May 3 on ESPNU at 9 p.m. ET.

AUSL advisor Natasha Watley was in attendance at the ceremony.

“It was really awesome receiving it from her,” Netz said. “Playing pro has always been a dream of mine. If it was my way, I would never stop playing softball. So, honestly, I never want to hang up the cleats, but we’ll see where it goes and see where it takes me.”

“It’s exciting for Devyn,” Lowe said. “I was getting chills watching that video and just knowing what’s in front of her. She’s built for that… The journey isn’t just here for her, it’s much further beyond that. But we still have so much softball left to play, which is really cool, too.”

Arizona begins a two-game non-conference series at San Diego State (29-15) on Friday at 6 p.m., before closing the regular season and Big 12 play with a series at Houston next week.

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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