NCAA Softball Super Regional Preview: Arizona vs. Baylor
Arizona will stay home in Tucson for this weekend’s Super Regional and host Baylor in the best-of-three series for a berth to the Women’s College World Series. Game one between second-seeded Arizona and 15th-seeded Baylor is scheduled for Friday, May 26th at 6 p.m. MST.
From the Plate
The Arizona offense has been on fire all season. The Wildcats are batting .340 as a team and have a diverse lineup with a mix of slappers with speed, power hitters, and contact hitters. Mandie Perez, Arizona’s short game, and leadoff hitter had 15 hits in the Arizona Regional this past weekend. At the top of the Wildcat offensive statistics along with Perez are Ashleigh Hughes, Mo Mercado, and Katiyana Mauga. All four hitters have over 50 hits on the season with Hughes, Mercado, and Perez batting an impressive and closely knit .385, .384, and .383. Mauga hit two more home runs during the Regional, bringing her total on the season to 24 and 91 on her career. Mauga needs just four more long balls to tie the NCAA home run record held by former Oklahoma Sooner Lauren Chamberlain (95).
The Baylor offense is batting .324 on the season as a team. The Lady Bears have two hitters entering the Super Regional batting over .400. Senior Lindsey Cargill has maintained an impressive .449 batting average with 79 hits, 48 runs, and 13 RBI on the season. Sophomore Kyla Walker is the other Lady Bear hitting over .400. Walker holds a .413 batting average with 81 hits, 42 runs, and 22 RBI going into the Super Regional. The Lady Bears have six players in their offensive lineup who are batting over .300 and are tough to keep off the bases.
From the Circle
The Arizona pitching staff has been dominant all season. Senior Danielle O’Toole enters the weekend with a 29-4 record, a 1.02 ERA, and 202 strikeouts in 205.1 innings pitched. O’Toole is likely to get the ball in game one of the Super Regional. Taylor McQuillin has had a consistent season in the circle behind O’Toole. McQuillin enters the Super Regional with a 16-3 record, a 1.72 ERA, and 155 strikeouts in 114 innings pitched on the year. The Arizona pitching staff did not allow a single run scored in last weekend’s Regional.
Baylor sophomore pitcher Gia Rodoni tossed not one, but two no-hitters in the Regional round for the Lady Bears. What’s even more impressive is that Rodoni has been named as the number two pitcher on the staff behind senior ace Kelsee Selman. Selman enters the Super Regional with a 23-8 record, a 1.46 ERA, and 185 strikeouts in 201 innings pitched. Rodoni is 17-2 on the season with a 1.57 ERA and has 134 K’s in 138 innings pitched.
Analysis/Prediction
When looking at the numbers on offense and defense, we predict Arizona will come out of this Super Regional and advance to the Women’s College World Series. Don’t expect the Lady Bears to go down without a fight. The Baylor pitchers have the ability to keep the Arizona offense off-balanced and will need to move the ball around while changing speeds frequently. The Arizona offense has been unstoppable all season and when you add their ace O’Toole into the equation, they appear to be a team that could make it very far if they can get through Baylor first.
