Courtesy of Arizona Athletics
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Fourteenth-ranked Arizona softball split with a pair of ranked opponents on day 1 of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Thursday in Palm Springs. The Wildcats dropped the first game to No. 11 Kentucky 5-2 before Kellie Fox’s walkoff home run downed No. 4 Oklahoma 5-4.
Game 1 – No. 11 Kentucky 5, No. 13 Arizona 2
Despite outhitting Kentucky 7-6, Arizona fell to No.11 Kentucky 5-2 to open the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Eva Watson went 3-for-3 at the plate while Mo Mercado added a pair of hits, but Arizona’s offense was quiet against Kentucky pitcher Kelsey Nunley (3-0) otherwise.
In the first 6.2 innings, Arizona was held scoreless on just four hits against Nunley. Three hits later, Arizona scored two runs only to have Erin Rethlake earn her first save of the season.
Parks (3-1) was charged with her first loss of the season, going three innings and allowing four runs on four hits. She struck out three and walked one in the start. Siera Phillips pitched the final four innings and allowed one run on two hits.
Kentucky got the scoring going in the second on a two-run Breanne Ray home run, only to add two more in the third. Nikki Sagermann and Brooklin Hinz each doubled in runs to give Kentucky a 4-0 lead.
After a leadoff HBP in the fourth, a pair of groundouts moved the runner to third and a wild pitch scored Kentucky’s fifth run of the game.
Game 2 – No. 13 Arizona 5, No. 4 Oklahoma 4
Down to its final out in the top of the seventh trailing 4-2, Oklahoma hit a two-run home run to tie the game. The tie did not last long as one batter into the Arizona seventh, the game was over.
Kellie Fox hit Paige Parker’s second pitch of the seventh over the right field for an opposite-field leadoff walkoff home run. Fox went 3-for-4 and drove in the game’s first run on an RBI triple in the third to go along with her walkoff homer.
It was Arizona’s second walkoff win of the season; Ashleigh Hughes hit a walkoff triple vs. Oklahoma State in Arizona’s third game of the year.
The win marked Arizona’s first victory over Oklahoma in the last nine games of the series.
The victory gave the Wildcats seven top-five victories over the last two calendar years.
Michelle Floyd (3-0) was brilliant in the circle in her second start of the season. Floyd went 5.1 innings and did not allow a run on three hits. The sophomore struck out three and walked two. Floyd tossed the first five innings before reentering to get the final out of the seventh inning.
Chelsea Goodacre went 1-for-2 with an RBI double in the game. Mo Mercado also drove in a run for Arizona.
Oklahoma starter Paige Parker (3-1) allowed just a walk and a hit-by-pitch through the first 10 batters before Chelsea Suitos recorded Arizona’s first hit with two out in the second. Fox followed with an RBI triple and scored on a Goodacre double to give Arizona a 2-0 lead in the third.
Arizona added two more in the fifth. Parker once again got the first two out of the inning before Fox singled and Goodacre walked to put two on. An error scored pinch runner Aireal Sakasegawa and extended the inning for Mercado, who singled in another and put UA up 4-0.
The Sooners began their comeback in the sixth. Lauren Chamberlain hit her 79th career home run, 11 off the NCAA record, with one out in the sixth against reliever Siera Phillips. The Sooners would add another on a sacrifice fly to go into the seventh trailing by two.
Parker led off the top of the seventh inning with a deep drive to center field where Eva Watson made the catch, taking down the makeshift fence in the process, taking away extra bases, and perhaps robbing a home run, in the process. Kelsey Arnold followed with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. Phillips retired the next batter and got ahead on Nicole Pendley 0-1, two strikes away from ending the game. The OU centerfielder hit a two-run homer to right to tie the game.
Michelle Floyd then re-entered and allowed a double to Chamberlain and intentionally walked Shelby Pendley. Floyd got the final out to keep the score tied entering the bottom of the seventh.
Fox led off the bottom half with a home run to win the game.
