Thursday brought a perfect storm of struggles as the Washington Huskies lost to the Arizona Wildcats 11-3 at the Pac-12 Tournament. Coach Heather Tarr’s team got off to a slow start at the plate and in the circle, falling behind 4-0 by the end of the second inning.
The Wildcats were all over Huskies ace Ruby Meylan, who took the loss to fall to 9-9 on the season after letting up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 4 earned runs over just 1 2/3 innings. Although the Huskies got some traffic on the bases, they couldn’t manage to push any runs across until the fourth inning.
Alana Johnson hit her team-leading thirteenth home run of the season to cut the deficit to 5-2, before Giselle Alvarez hit her third homer of the year to go back-to-back, trimming Arizona’s lead to 5-3. But that would be all for the Huskies offensively.
Designated player Olivia DiNardo answered with a two-run home run in the fifth inning to make the score 7-3, as she led the way for the Wildcats, going 3 for 4 with 5 runs batted in.
Washington’s pitching staff was shaky in relief of Meylan, as first-year Sidne Peters started strong, but let up 3 hits and 3 runs (2 earned). Lindsay Lopez worked the final inning and faced similar struggles to Meylan, allowing 4 hits and 4 earned runs in the sixth inning. [lawrence-related id=3298]