The Arizona Wildcats split Thursday's games at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., falling to Virginia Tech 9-2 before defeating Notre Dame 2-0.
Freshman Nancy Bowling threw her first career shutout in the afternoon win over the Irish. She allowed five hits, walked four and struck out three in the longest outing of her career.
Notre Dame (15-7) loaded the bases with two out in the sixth inning, but Bowling got Kathryn Lux to fly out. Bowling walked an Irish hitter in the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate, but worked out of the jam.
Chelsea Goodacre drove in both the Wildcats' runs with a first-inning bloop single and a sixth-inning solo home run. Goodacre leads the team with nine home runs. She has 30 RBIs already for the the UA (19-6); no other player has more than 19.
Arizona fell in Friday's opener, managing just two runs on four hits against Virginia Tech starter Kelly Heinz. The Hokies (16-2) peppered UA pitchers Shelby Babcock and Estela Piñon for 11 hits. Three of them were home runs.
Babock, who started the game, took the loss. Arizona's Lauren Young hit a solo home run in Game 1, her fifth blast in a week, but finished the doubleheader just 1 for 6. Arizona will play another doubleheader today in Fullerton, taking on Penn State at 12:30 p.m. and 15th-ranked Michigan at 3 p.m.
The 14th-ranked Wildcats' showdown with top-ranked Oklahoma is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.
Compiled from a news release
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