TUCSON – It was a show in the batter's box and the circle as Arizona cruised to a 10-1 victory over Oregon State, which did not have a baserunner until a one-out double broke up junior Danielle O'Toole's perfect game bid in the fifth and final inning of Arizona's run-rule win.
The offense piled on 10 runs in the mercy-shortened game, more than it had it the two previous games in the series combined. Arizona (34-18, 11-10 Pac-12) won the series 2-1 over the Beavers (28-18-1, 7-14 Pac-12) and now owns a 96-14 record against Oregon State all-time.
Arizona had scored one or fewer runs in four of its previous five games and seemed in need of a spark to ignite the team as postseason nears. It may have come in the form of a Coach Candrea ejection with two outs in the second inning. Candrea was ejected disputing an obstruction call.
Ten of the next 12 Wildcats would reach base and Arizona turned a one-run game into a 10-0 Wildcat lead. Mandie Perez had four RBI in that span, including a clutch two-out three-run double to relieve the tension in the second inning.
Katiyana Mauga and Mo Mercado each homered in the game; Mercado tallied her team-best 19th multi-hit game of the year.
Lauren Young also picked up two hits, her second straight two-hit affair. Young, who also drew a walk on Sunday, is continuing her torrid ending to her senior year. The series was the penultimate at Hillenbrand for Young, who celebrates senior weekend next Thursday-Saturday vs. Cal as Arizona's lone senior.
O'Toole (W, 20-10), coming off a shutout of the Beavers on Friday, nearly one-upped her game 1 performance. The junior was two outs from the first Wildcat perfect game since 2010, but allowed three hits and a run to break it up. Still, it was a masterful performance for O'Toole, who earned win No. 20 on the year.
In two games vs. the Beavers, O'Toole was 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 12.0 innings pitched.
Arizona got on the board in the bottom of the first when Mercado's deep fly ball to left field bounced off OSU left fielder Lovie Lopez's glove and over the fence for a home run.
The Wildcats looked poised to add to the lead when it had runners at second and third with nobody out in the second. After a groundout kept the runners where they were, Alexis Dotson hit a chopper up the middle. Contact between Lauren Young and the OSU shortstop McKenna Arriola was ruled obstruction, taking a pair of runs off the board for the Cats. Eva Watson followed with a walk and Mandie Perez knocked double to right to clear the bases.
Mercado led off the third with a single and scored on Mauga's 18th homer of the year. Tamara Statman followed with a single before four straight walks gave Arizona an 8-0 advantage. Perez and Ashleigh Hughes collected RBI as well to make it 10-0 after three.
As the Cats piled up the runs, O'Toole was piling up the outs. It was 13 up, 13 down for O'Toole until Madison Anthony broke up the perfect-game bid with a double in the fifth.
Up Next: The final week of the regular season is upon us as Arizona welcomes in Cal for a three-game series Thursday-Saturday at Hillenbrand Stadium.
Follow Arizona Softball: For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat softball, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and be sure to follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (@UA_Softball).
