Shelby Babcock works a perfect seventh inning to finish off a 7-2 victory for the Arizona Wildcats in an NCAA regional at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Arizona (2-0 in the double-elimination regional) advances to play in Game 6 of the regional Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against Notre Dame, which came back Saturday night to beat North Dakota State. If UA loses Game 6, the teams will play once more for the right to go to an NCAA Super Regional next weekend.
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Shelby Babcock comes in to get the final three outs for Arizona. Fowler allowed two runs, none earned, in six innings, allowing eight hits. She did not walk anyone — which has been an area of emphasis for UA in the past couple of weeks.
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Arizona extends the lead in the top of the seventh.
Hallie Wilson led off with an in field hit and went to third when Bridgette Del Ponte beat out a bunt and second baseman Jenna Simon, covering first, let the throw go off her glove.
Shelby Pendley delivered a one-out single to right to drive in Wilson; Del Ponte scored from third by one batter later by beating out a fielder’s choice to first base.
So … the Cats are up 7-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
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Kenzie Fowler works around a leadoff double, retiring the next three batters in the bottom of the sixth. Notre Dame has had had a runner at least on second in four of the six innings, but Fowler has mostly gotten the big outs when she has needed them.
Fowler — or perhaps Shelby Babcock, who has been warming up — needs only three more outs to close this one out. Arizona leads 5-2 going to the seventh.
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Alex Lavine comes for Chelsea Suitos to play right field in the bottom of the sixth, a fairly common late-game move for coach Mike Candrea.
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Arizona gets out of the fifth inning without giving up any more runs to Notre Dame, which had runners on first and second with no outs after scoring an unearned run. Facing the heart of the order, pitcher Kenzie Fowler got Amy Buntin to pop out meekly to first base, struck out Dani Miller … and then UA center fielder Hallie Wilson ended the inning with a great play.
Running back back on a line drive from Emilee Koerner, Wilson reached above her head and snagged the ball for the final out of the inning. That earned her a high five from Fowler as she ran back to the dugout.
Arizona leads 5-2.
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Notre Dame scored its second run of the game — both unearned — after Jenna Simon led off the bottom of the fifth by slapping a liner to left field, which the ball glancing off the glove of Karissa Buchanan, who had to go back on the ball. Alexa Maldonado followed with a sharp RBI single to center, driving in Simon from second base.
UA leads 5-2, with the Irish still batting in the inning.
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Arizona pushes the lead to 5-1 in the top of the fourth on a two-out single by Brigette Del Ponte. With the bases loaded, Del Ponte hit an opposite-field flair just over second baseman Jenna Simon, driving in Chelsea Suitos and Karissa Buchanan.
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Top of the fourth: New pitcher for the Irish — Brittany O’Donnell.
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Coach Mike Candrea said this week he has gotten more out of freshman shortstop Shelby Pendley than he had a right to expect. Pendley, who torn an ACL while playing for the U.S. Junior National team last summer entered school unsure if she would be able to play this season … and if she was able to, she might be limited to designated hitter duties.
But she has started the whole season at shortstop and hit a team-high 18 home runs.
But at this point of the season, her body is ailing in several areas (knee, hip, foot) and she appeared to hurt one of those areas while trying to field a grounder in the hole in the bottom of the third. She twisted as she throw wide to first for an error.
Candrea and the trainers came out, although Pendley stayed in the game. Notre Dame went on to score a run, eventually scoring on an infield hit. Arizona avoided further damage when Pendley booted a two-out grounder with runners on first and second, but recovered to get a force out at third base.
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Arizona scores two more runs in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead.
Kristen Arriola led off a with a double down the left-field line and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Chelsea Suitos. Leadoff hitter Karissa Buchanan then slapped a soft grounder to shortstop and Arriola, running on contact, scored while Buchanan beat the throw to first.
The next batter, Hallie Wilson, put down a bunt toward third and was safe at first, while Buchanan raced all the way around to third base because no one was covering the bag. Brigette Del Ponte drove in a run with a one-out single up the middle.
The Cats later loaded the bases but missed a chance to blow the game the open as Chelsea Goodacre hit a lazy fly to right to end the inning.
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Kenzie Fowler works out of trouble in the second inning after Notre Dame reached base on a bunt single and a hit to left. With one out, Fowler worked outside to strike out Kasey O’Connor on a 2-2 pitch, and then she struck out Chloe Saganowich, also on an outside pitch.
Fowler has struck out four in two innings. Arizona leads 1-0.
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One Pac-12 team is already through to the Super Regionals. Oregon defeated BYU today to advance.
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Kenzie Fowler works a 1-2-3 first inning for the Wildcats, effectively throwing her changeup for strikes, including punching out Kelsey Thornton looking. Leadoff batter Alexa Maldonado thought she had drawn a walk, making it all the way to first base, before being called back by the home plate umpire because it was only a three-ball count. Maldonado bounced out to first base on the next pitch.
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After two quick outs in the top of the first inning, Arizona junior third baseman Brigette Del Ponte hits her 15th home run of the season, a line shot to left that just clears the fence above the sign honoring the retired jersey of Jenny Dalton.
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Arizona is the visiting team today, with senior outfielder Karissa Buchanan leading off for the second consecutive game, bumping Hallie Wilson down to the No. 2 spot in the order. Buchanan finished strong in the regular season, including a four-hit game in the finale. Coach Mike Candrea said Buchanan, a slap hitter who has is hitting .333 (35 hits, all singles) seemed to become more focused in the past few weeks.
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Notre Dame’s starting pitcher is Laura Winter, who is 28-9 with a 1.90 ERA. She has 274 strikeouts and only 23 walks in 247 innings.
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At Hillenbrand Stadium this afternoon for a NCAA regional winners’ bracket game between Arizona and Notre Dame.
The winner of this game is in the driver’s seat of the regional, advancing to Sunday, getting two chances to win one game. The loser has to play later tonight facing the winner of the elimination game between Hawaii and North Dakota State, which will begin following today’s first game.
Arizona coach Mike Candrea is sending junior Kenzie Fowler to the circle against the Irish, which upset Hawaii on Friday night. Fowler has struggled this season, entering the game with a 14-8 record and a 2.83 ERA.
Check back here for in-game updates and analysis …