LAS CRUCES, N.M. – No. 17 Arizona softball picked up a pair of impressive win on Saturday afternoon over New Mexico State. The Cats cruised to a 14-2, five-inning victory in game 1 before scoring nine runs over the final two innings to come back and defeat the Aggies in game 2, 11-6 (8 innings).
Arizona scored 25 runs on 33 hits in the two games, including seven home runs. Chelsea Goodacre hit three home runs in game one. Overall, Goodacre drove in seven in the doubleheader, giving her 205 for her career, 10th most in school history. Her three homers gave her 59 for her career, tied for sixth most in Arizona history.
Arizona resumes Pac-12 play next weekend when the Cats host their rivals from Tempe. Arizona and Arizona State play a three-game series beginning on Friday at 5 p.m. PDT at Hillenbrand Stadium.
Game 1 – Arizona 14, New Mexico State 2 (5 innings)
Chelsea Goodacre hit three of Arizona’s six home runs as and Kellie Fox was a triple shy of the cycle as Arizona put together an offensive clinic in a 14-2, five-inning victory in game 1.
Arizona overwhelmed NMSU with a season-high-tying 17 hits and a season-high six home runs, four of which came in UA’s eight-run second.
Las Cruces native Alexis Dotson went 3-for-4, picking up her first career three-hit game in front of a large group of friends and family.
In addition to Goodacre’s Arizona-record-tying three home runs, Kellie Fox, Katiyana Mauga and Lauren Young went deep for the Cats, who totaled eight extra-base hits in the contest.
Goodacre’s three homers and five RBI pushed the senior to 59 career home runs and 203 career RBI. Those figures now rank sixth and ninth in Arizona history.
Michelle Floyd (14-4) went the distance in the contest, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts in the five innings.
The Cats scored in every inning in the contest, doing the heavy lifting in an eight-run second.
A hit-by-pitch, walk and single loaded the bases with nobody out for the Wildcats in the top of the first. UA managed two runs on a pair of RBI walks from Chelsea Goodacre and Trish Parks. Arizona left the bases loaded, but spotted Michelle Floyd a 2-0 lead.
After using free passes to take the lead in the first, Arizona opened the second with three consecutive singles, including an RBI single to left from Chelsea Suitos. The next three Wildcats would leave the yard. Kellie Fox started the homer parade with a three-run blast before Katiyana Mauga and Chelsea Goodacre hit solo shots. After a hard Trish Parks lineout, Mo Mercado singled and Lauren Young hit Arizona’s fourth homer of the inning to give UA a 10-0 lead after two.
New Mexico State, after being held hitless in the first, plated a run on three hits in the bottom of the second. The Aggies were threatening for more before Kellie Fox and Mo Mercado hooked up to turn a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.
The Cats hit their fifth homer of the game when Goodacre connected on her second homer of the day with two out, a two-run shot to right to put Arizona up 12-1.
Arizona added single runs in the fourth and fifth when Fox picked up a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Goodacre hit her third homer of the game in the fifth.
Game 2 – Arizona 11, New Mexico State 6 (8 innings)
Facing a 6-2 deficit in the seventh, Arizona put together an improbable comeback, plating four runs to tie the game in the seventh, including three with two out, and then piling five runs on in the eighth to win the game.
The Wildcats, who gave up four runs in the bottom in the sixth inning to break a 2-2 tie, scored the game’s final nine runs to complete the sweep.
After a two-run error, it was Trish Parks who tied the game with a single up the middle with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning, making up for a rough start in the circle.
Parks went 5.2 innings and allowed six runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Siera Philips entered to get the final out of the sixth before Michelle Floyd hurled scoreless seventh and eighth innings to earn the victory and improve to 15-4 on the season.
Katiyana Mauga went 3-for-5 in the contest with a three-run homer in the eighth.
Hallie Wilson, Chelsea Suitos, Kellie Fox, Chelsea Goodacre and Lauren Young all had two hits each.
Arizona opened the second inning with two hits to put runners at the corners with nobody out, but when Trish Parks hit a hard ground ball to third, the Aggies turned a 5-4-3-1-5 triple play to get out of the inning.
After the two teams exchanged zeros in the first three innings, Arizona broke the scoreless tie when Chelsea Suitos singled, stole second and scored on Goodacre’s two-out single to center.
NMSU responded with two runs in the bottom half when Fiana Finau hit a two-run home run to left.
Arizona tied the game with a Chelsea Goodacre RBI in the sixth, but the tie would not last long as New Mexico State scored four runs in the bottom half to take a 6-2 lead.
In the seventh, Young led off with a walk before Hallie Wilson hit a one-out single to left. Suitos singled to load the bases before a Fox single moved everyone up 60 feet and put the tying runs on base with one out. Mauga popped out to put Arizona down to its final out. Goodacre hit a hard ground ball to second base that was mishandled, ruled a two-run error to bring the Cats within a run and put the tying run on the third base. Parks then hit a single up the middle to tie the game.
Floyd entered to pitch the bottom of the seventh and allowed the potential winning run to reach base with a leadoff single. The sophomore retired the next three batters to get the game to extra innings.
In the eighth, Young led off with a long single to left center and moved to second on a Wilson walk. Two straight wild pitches scored the go-ahead run before Fox singled in a run to put UA up by two. Mauga followed with a moon-shot to left, a three-run home run to put UA up 11-6.
For more information on Arizona softball, check out www.arizonawildcats.com and be sure to follow the team’s Twitter and Instagram accounts (@UA_Softball).
