No. 18 Arizona will next face rival UCLA in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals Friday after producing 13 hits, including a double and home run by Olivia DiNardo, in an 11-3 upset of No. 12 Washington in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal round Thursday night at Palo Alto, Calif.
Arizona improved to 33-15-1 overall. UCLA, the top seed of the tournament as Pac-12 regular-season champinos, is 35-10.
The Wildcats and Bruins will play at 7:30 p.m. following the other semifinal game between Utah and Stanford.
ON TO THE NEXT ONE pic.twitter.com/HorXTJZ9OY
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) May 10, 2024
Arizona, seeded fifth in the tournament, run-ruled the fourth-seeded Huskies in six innings in the quarterfinals on Thursday. It was Washington its first mercy-rule loss of the season.
DiNardo went 3 for 4 and drove in a career-high-tying five runs. She doubled and homered.
Tayler Biehl went 3 for 3 and scored three runs.
The Wildcats struck first with two runs to open the game.
Have a game, @OliviaDiNardo3!
Liv brings in two more to tie her career high of five RBI!
@pac12 pic.twitter.com/gq2iDJDlj0
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) May 10, 2024
Ironwood Ridge graduate Allie Skaggs drove in the first run with an RBI single and DiNardo doubled in the second run of the inning.
Arizona took a four-run lead over the Huskies in the second inning. With runners on second and third, freshman sensation Regan Shockey knocked in Biehl with an RBI groundout. Tucson High alum Carlie Scupin followed with a one-run double to center field, Arizona’s second double of the game.
In the fourth, Kaiah Altmeyer added to Arizona’s lead with an RBI groundout for a 5-0 lead.
Washington cut into the lead with back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 5-3 game.
DiNardo hit her 12th home run of the season – a two-run blast – to give Arizona a 7-3 lead in the fifth.
The Wildcats scored two more in the top of the sixth to take a six-run lead.
Shockey drove in the first run of the inning with her 75th hit of the season and Skaggs hit an RBI groundout to bring in another run.
Miranda Stoddard started the game and went two scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.
Brooke Mannon entered in relief to start the third and went one inning. She struck out two Huskies to end the third inning.
After Mannon allowed a two-run home run in the fourth, Mountain View graduate Aissa Silva entered the circle and went the final three innings, giving up just one earned run.
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