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The Daily Wildcat

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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Softball sweeps Aggies on road

Arizona softball earned a pair of victories over New Mexico State in Las Cruces on Saturday to complete a 12-game road trip. The two wins moved the UA to 27-7 on the year.

The No. 17 Wildcats breezed through the first game of the doubleheader in a 14-2 run-ruled victory before needing extra-innings to win the second game 11-6.

Arizona’s offense stepped up to produce a combined 25 runs on 33 hits over the two games.

The UA hit seven home runs on the day, including three from Chelsea Goodacre in game one. The senior’s 59 career home runs ties for sixth most in program history.

Goodacre’s power led the Wildcats to an offensive barrage in the opening game. By the second inning, Arizona had already dropped 10 runs on the Aggies.

Arizona added a pair of runs in the third and a single run each in the fourth and fifth innings to earn the run-ruled win. Leadoff hitter Hallie Wilson provided the Wildcats with a spark from the top of the order, going 2-3 and scoring three runs.

Every starting position player recorded at least one hit, including Las Cruces native Alexis Dotson, who went 3-4 in front of a hometown crowd. It was Dotson’s first career three-hit game.

Arzona shortstop Kellie Fox also had a standout game, going 3-3 with four RBIs. Fox, Katiyana Mauga and Lauren Young each knocked out a home-run.

Collectively, the UA recorded 17 hits and six home runs in the opening game, both season-highs.

On the mound, Michelle Floyd pitched five solid innings in which she allowed two runs over six hits. The outing moved Floyd to 14-4 on the season.

The second game of the day required far more drama for the Wildcats, who had to climb back from a 6-2, sixth-inning deficit.

With two outs in the seventh and final inning and still down three runs, Arizona mounted a remarkable comeback to force the game into extra-innings.

With the bases loaded, Goodacre hit a grounder to second base that should have ended the game. Instead, the infielder misplayed it, allowing two runs to score and pushing the deficit to one run.

Trish Parks hit a single up the middle to tie the game. Floyd pitched a scoreless bottom-of-the-seventh to push the game to extras. In the top of the eighth, Arizona exploded for five runs behind a three-run homer from Mauga. Floyd closed out the win with three scoreless outs.

New Mexico State kept the Wildcats in check for most of the game, and heading into the sixth-inning, the score was tied at two.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Aggies finally broke through with four runs off Arizona’s Parks. The Wildcats’ starter left the game after five and two third innings, having allowed six earned runs.

Offensively, Mauga led Arizona with three hits while six other Wildcats recorded a pair of hits.

Arizona now returns its focus to Pac-12 Conference play this weekend as it hosts rival ASU for a three-game series beginning Friday evening.

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Follow Ezra Amacher on Twitter.

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