TUCSON, Ariz. -- Danielle O'Toole entered Friday the Pac-12's leader in opponent batting average, limiting opponents to a .165 average. Washington entered the marquee series third nationally offensively with a .361 clip.
Something had to give.
The battle was won by O'Toole (15-1), in knockout fashion. The senior threw her first career no-hitter, facing just two over the minimum in a seven-inning masterpiece with eight strikeouts and one walk.
In a matchup between two of the nation's top offenses, O'Toole outdueled her Washington counterpart, Taran Alvelo (15-2), who allowed three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Fifth-ranked Arizona defeated sixth-ranked Washington 3-0 for its 15th straight win to improve to 30-1 (4-0 Pac-12) on the season. The Huskies fell to 26-4 (3-1 Pac-12) with the loss, their first in 13 outings.
The Wildcats plated their three runs on nine hits.
Tamara Statman led the way with two hits and her second home run of the season.
Mo Mercado and Reyna Carrano had multi-hit games as well. Carranco has two hits in two of her last three games after not recording a multi-hit outing in UA's first 28 games of 2017.
O'Toole's no-hitter was the 90th in Arizona history, but just the first seven-inning no-hitter since Taryne Mowatt no hit the Huskies in 2008. The no-hitter was Arizona's first non-mercy no-hitter against a top-10 team since Susie Parra threw an eight-inning no-hitter vs. No. 8 Cal in 1993.
Arizona started quickly, leading off the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles by
Mandie Perez and
Dejah Mulipola, both of whom would come around to score on an
Alyssa Palomino sac fly and a
Mo Mercado two-out, 0-2 RBI single.
The Cats insured their lead with Statman's solo homer to left field in the sixth.
Up Next: Arizona goes for the series victory on Saturday at 12 p.m. MST on the Pac-12 Networks.
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