No. 21 Arizona softball’s win over No. 22 Oregon overshadowed by injury to Hanna Delgado (2024)

No. 21 Arizona softball was looking for a big win on Friday evening. The Wildcats defeated No. 22 Oregon 7-5, but the win was overshadowed by a frightening injury to Ducks centerfielder Hanna Delgado.

With Arizona leading 6-2, Tayler Biehl launched the ball into centerfield. Delgado dove, catching the ball before colliding head-first with the outfield wall. The collision caused her to lose the ball, allowing Biehl to reach third, but the bigger concern was that Delgado didn’t get up.

The outfielder stayed down for over 10 minutes as she was tended to and an ambulance came to take her away on a stretcher with her head immobilized. Meanwhile, Arizona and Oregon players gathered in a circle to pray.

“It kind of is a flash of shock to everybody and then at the same time—we have a lot of girls on our team that are really good friends with her—so just a whole lot of worry,” Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe said. “We had a lot of concern, especially when you see the paramedics go out there. But just thinking about her.”

Reports during the game indicated that Delgado was moving when she left. Lowe spoke to Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi during the game.

“Missy sounded like it was positive, so that makes me feel better, but just thinking about her,” Lowe said. “You never want to see that happen in the game, ever. We’re out here playing a fun game that we love with our friends and it should never have to end that way for someone.”

The injury to Delgado was a difficult event to process, but the game continued.

Arizona has shown it can compete with ranked teams. It has even shown it can beat them. The next step is showing that it can win a series against one. The win was a good start.

The Wildcats have been hot offensively during their four-game winning streak on the road. However, those four games were against Utah, which is 4-11 in conference play, and New Mexico State. While Oregon has some questions in the circle where all of its pitchers have a WHIP of 1.22 or higher, it’s still a dangerous team.

Arizona kept the bats going against the Ducks’ staff. They started immediately, loading the bases with one out against Oregon starter Stevie Hansen in the first inning. The Wildcats didn’t score but it was a promising sign of things to come.

As has been the case of late, things really got going during the second time through the Arizona order. Leadoff hitter Dakota Kennedy started it with a double. Two batters later, Carlie Scupin hit her fourth home run in the last six games, this one coming on her birthday.

“Our goal this year has just been to throw the first punch and score first,” Scupin said. “So right there I’m just looking for a pitch that I can drive and see what I can do with it. Think less these days.”

The two-out long ball put Arizona up 2-0. The Wildcats weren’t done yet.

Blaise Biringer drew a two-out walk, bringing up Olivia DiNardo. DiNardo took a 1-0 pitch out of the park for a two-run homer of her own. Arizona had a 4-0 lead after three.

It was also DiNardo’s second straight start behind the plate after spending most of the season as the designated player. While DiNardo said on Mar. 17 that she was having issues with her hamstring, Lowe said it ended up being a nerve issue.

DiNardo caught for three innings before freshman Emily Schepp entered the game behind the plate and DiNardo went back to designated player.

“I’m excited to be working with the pitchers again and just getting back and locked in with them,” DiNardo said. “And Schepp’s doing really well and I think we work really well together.”

Also getting a start was freshman pitcher Brooke Mannon, who last started on Mar. 2 at Alabama and had only pitched 6 ²⁄₃ innings since then, sometimes on a pitch count.

Mannon gave up just one walk, surrendering no runs and getting one strikeout in her two innings of work. She did not figure in the decision because she was relieved by Aissa Silva in the top of the third inning.

Silva had a 1-2-3 inning in the third before her team’s offense came alive in the bottom of the inning. Her second inning of work was a bit more difficult.

Silva gave up a leadoff double to Delgado for Oregon’s first hit of the game. Ariel Carlson then cut Arizona’s lead in half with a two-run home run.

Silva issued a walk to Alyssa Daniell who moved up on a passed ball. Oregon had another runner in scoring position with no outs. Vallery Wong walked to put two on with no outs, then both runners moved up on a wild pitch.

Arizona’s defense picked up its pitcher with an unusual 9-2-6 double play. Silva got the groundout to end the inning with no more damage.

The Wildcats’ offense responded in the bottom of the inning, which has become a relatively common occurrence lately. Biehl reached on an error and moved up on Jasmine Perezchica’s sacrifice. Biehl then moved to third on a passed ball and was driven in by Regan Shockey’s two-out single.

Shockey got into scoring position when Scupin was hit by a pitch, putting two on for Allie Skaggs. She singled, driving in Shockey, who made another great slide to get in safely. Both Skaggs and pinch runner Paige Dimler moved into scoring position when Oregon went home trying to get Shockey.

Arizona didn’t get any more runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Blaise Biringer’s two-out walk finally drove Oregon’s second pitcher from the game.

Oregon got two on in the top of the fifth, including Delgado. It was her final at-bat of the game before her injury in the bottom of the inning.

After Delgado was taken to a local hospital, the game continued. Perezchica drove in Biehl from third base with a groundout to get another run back. The Wildcats led 7-2 after five innings.

The Ducks struck back in the sixth. Silva got two outs before allowing back-to-back singles to Emma Kauf and Katie Flannery. She then got to a full count against Tehya Bird before Bird launched the ball out of the park for a three-run home run. The lead was down to two when the inning came to an end.

Arizona did what it needed from there out. The seventh started with one of Kennedy’s patented diving catches for the first out. Fellow defensive stars Shockey and Biehl teamed up for the final out, as Shockey got the ball back in quickly after a single to center. Biehl quickly applied the tag on Carlson, who had rounded second and ventured too far to get back. The play was reviewed, but the call was upheld to end the game.

“I think Dakota in the seventh was huge to set that tone because getting the leadoff hitter out,” Lowe said. “I think Regan was—I mean she almost did that twice tonight—just really heads up plays. And then Tayler being ready for that was huge.”

Silva got the win, improving her record to 17-4. She gave up five earned runs on seven hits, three walks, and a hit batter. She struck out one.

The game gave Arizona a 27-12-1 record less than a year after ending 29-25 and missing the postseason for the first time in 35 years. The Wildcats are 8-8 in Pac-12 play.

The Wildcats will try to secure the series on Saturday at 12 p.m. MST.