No. 14 Arizona held off Santa Clara in a 13-5 win over the Broncos in five innings in the opening game of the of the NCAA Tournament Tucson regional on Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium.
Arizona (46-11, 17-7 Big 12) led by five runs through three innings, but Santa Clara scored four runs in the top of the fourth to make it a one-run game before the Wildcats pulled away.
“That was a well-fought game, beginning to end. I thought our team did a great job of chipping away at the lead and finding a way to figure it out once they (Santa Clara) did score,” Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe said. “So, just a great response. It always feels good to get that first win. I thought we settled in very nicely. I think it’s going to be a grind. This entire regional is going to be what prepares us for later.”
Arizona is hosting its first regional at Hillenbrand Stadium since 2021 in Mike Candrea‘s final season, making Friday Lowe’s first game as a head coach in a Tucson regional.
“Tucson shows up for softball. It is a softball town, and I couldn’t be more proud of our fan base and the way they show out for us and the way they’ve showed up for us all year long, quite frankly,” Lowe said. “It’s like no other feeling, just having this place packed, it definitely feels like we have an extra person out there. I think we play a little bit better when we dig deep, and we’ve got them chanting ‘U of A’ behind our backs.”
Caitlin Lowe was happy at the way the team “chipped away” in 13-5 win in five innings over Santa Clara in the opening game of the NCAA tournament that ended with a grand slam by Sydney Stewart. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/Ua0sP3g9OQ
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) May 17, 2025
The Wildcats were up 5-1 when Ryan Maddox came in to relieve starter Miranda Stoddard to begin the top of the third inning. Maddox ran into some trouble in the fourth inning when she hit Hope Alley with a pitch and walked the next two batters, loading the bases for Santa Clara. Robynn Balmediano would hit a two-run double to right field to cut Arizona’s lead in half, leading to Stoddard to return to the circle.
But Santa Clara wasn’t done with its comeback push. Lauren Bryson was the first batter Stoddard faced, and she hit a two-run single up the middle to make it a 6-5 game.
Stoddard retired the next three batters in the fourth inning, and after walking the first batter she faced in the fifth inning, Alley grounded into a double play and Taryn Clements grounded out.
“I think I’ve said this before, but any one of us has been in that position where we have to have someone come in and kind of save us or shut things down. So being able to do that for Ryan (Maddox) is great, because I know that she has done, and will do the same for me,” Stoddard said of her second appearance in the circle. “I think it’s just that whole bullpen mentality of being able to help each other out, and it doesn’t feel like I’m bailing her out necessarily, it just feels like I’m doing something for the team, and I know that we all have that same mindset.”
A two-run double to left center by Kaiah Altmeyer in the bottom of the fourth inning gave Arizona some breathing room, and Altmeyer scored on an RBI groundout by Emily Schepp to extend the lead to 9-5 heading into the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Dakota Kennedy and Regan Shockey singled. Devyn Netz then walked to load the bases, setting up a walk-off grand slam from Sydney Stewart.
WALK IT OFF @sydneyyystewart pic.twitter.com/ewAjwuIZVY
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) May 17, 2025
Santa Clara (32-21, 11-4 WCC) took an early 1-0 lead when Alley hit a solo home run to left field with two outs in the top of the first inning.
Kennedy walked to open the bottom half of the first inning, and a one-out RBI single from Netz tied the game.
Arizona loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning, and a two-run double to right field from Shockey gave the Wildcats their first lead at 3-1. The Wildcats added two unearned runs on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 5-1.
Arizona scored a run in the third inning off a solo home run from Stoddard to take a five-run lead.
Stoddard (13-0) allowed one run, three hits and a walk in four innings.
Santa Clara starter Cari Ferguson (8-10) allowed three earned runs, with three hits and four walks in 1 1/3 innings.
After Ferguson gave up four runs in the second inning, Hannah Edwards relieved her in the circle and Gray took the circle during the fifth inning for Santa Clara.
The game on Friday was Santa Clara’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament
Arizona next plays the winner of game two of the Tucson regional between Ole Miss (37-17, 11-13 SEC) and Grand Canyon (46-6, 30-6) on Saturday at 1 p.m. 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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