If Arizona softball’s home slate is finished for the year, the Wildcats went out with a bang.
No. 20 Arizona (34–13, 15-6 Big 12) scored 32 runs in its final regular-season home series to sweep Houston.
Arizona won 15-4 on Sunday, handing Houston (20-30, 3-21) its ninth straight loss.
After getting run-rule wins on Friday and Saturday, the Wildcats took the chance to shake up the lineup, giving sophomore pitcher Sarah Wright her first appearance since Mar. 20, and giving Tucson High and Pima College alum and senior Camila Zepeda her first Arizona at bat and starting former lineup fixture senior Kiki Escobar at first base.
“The goal was to get everybody in the game (Sunday) and top to bottom I was so proud of Sarah coming in and shutting that down after a couple hits, but it was great to get her in the lineup,†said UA head coach Caitlin Lowe. “Great to get Cami an at bat, great to get Kiki a start, all of those things and top to bottom, just really good team weekend all around with everybody just doing their job.â€
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Escobar, who started 33 games last year and 11 this season and was All-Pac-12 at Oregon State, has taken to the reserve role, especially pinch running.
“I’ll turn around and she's got her helmet on, her batting gloves on before she even knows she's going into games, she knows what she's doing, just an epic team player,†Lowe said. “I don't know that I coached a role player like Kiki Escobar before, where she's just so bought into whatever the team needs at any given moment and she's just so into all of it.
“So just proud, just really, really proud.â€
Houston opened Sunday’s game with a two-run home run in the first by sophomore utility Maddie Hartley.
Arizona batter Sydney Stewart (21) gets ahold of a pitch to launch a two-run homer against Houston in the second inning of their Big 12 game on April 24, 2026, at Hillenbrand Stadium.
Arizona responded in the home half of the first with a three-run home run by senior utility Sydney Stewart. Then a batter later, junior outfielder Tele Jennings hit a homer.
A couple of batters later, senior utility Grace Jenkins hit a solo home run.
In the second inning, Jennings hit a two-run single, which also scored Stewart, who was intentionally walked, after a Houston error. Senior infielder Tayler Biehl then drove in a run with a single.
Then Jenkins drove in Biehl with a double.
Next, in the third, Jennings hit a two-RBI bloop single after Stewart was intentionally walked again, to load the bases. Jenkins then hit a three-run home run.
Stewart was walked seven times in the series but hit three homers and drove in eight runs.
Jennings got three hits, five RBIs and two runs on Sunday.
“Kind of like ‘Ugh, not again,’ you know, but I wouldn't want to pitch to Stew either,†said Jennings when asked about what goes through her mind when she’s on deck and Stewart is getting internally walked. “Just knowing that they're probably going to walk her, so maybe locked in on deck and just again, whatever I could do for my teammates, like they're going to walk her, so just a little chip on my shoulder, take it a little personal and then go do what I gotta do.â€
Junior utility Regan Shockey went 3-3 on Sunday, the third straight day she went 3-3.
On Saturday, Arizona took the series with a second run-rule win in a row, 8-0 in five innings. It’s Arizona's fifth conference series win of the season.
The Wildcats jumped ahead 2-0 in the first when Jenkins drove in a couple of runs.
Arizona shortstop Tayler Biehl (2) gestures to right fielder Grace Jenkins (8) on her pinpoint throw that nailed Houston batter Ariel Redmond (2) trying to stretch her lead-off single in the first inning of their Big 12 game inÌýTucson, April 24.
Then, in the third, Biehl drove in a run with a bunt single and Jenkins drove in another run on a sacrifice. In the next at bat, sophomore infielder Jenna Sniffen got a sacrifice RBI of her own.
“I did have a little bit of a lull and quite frankly, I think it was just like a mental thing, confidence comes and goes and there's a lot of noise, a lot of people saying things that I think for me, I just have to stick to the people around me and really actually believe what they're telling me, right?†Jenkins said. “Because at the end of the day, someone can tell you that you're amazing but if you don't believe it, it's not going to mean anything, so I think actually, like just letting that in, letting my coaches instill belief in me, letting my teammates instill belief in me is huge.â€
In the fourth, the Wildcats added three more runs on sacrifices and an error.
Freshman Rylie Holder (11-4) pitched a three-hit complete game shutout with two walks and five strikeouts.
On Friday, Arizona beat the Cougars 9-1 in five innings after hitting four home runs.
In the first, Arizona got on the board when Jennings hit an RBI single. They added a second when Jenkins drew a bases-loaded walk.
Then, in the second, sophomore outfielder Addison Duke hit a solo home run. Then Stewart hit a two-run homer.
Houston responded in the third with a solo home run by sophomore catcher Makenna Mitchell.
In the fourth, Stewart hit a three-run round-tripper. Then Biehl hit a solo shot over the “A†logo on top of the batter’s eye.
Senior Jalen Adams (19-7) threw a complete game, giving up six hits, no walks and an earned run while striking out three.
Arizona’s Addison Duke (66) heads to the dugout as the Wildcats celebrate her solo homer on Houston in the second inning of their Big 12 game, in Tucson on April 24.
The Wildcats close out the regular season at Utah (32-18-1, 8-12-1). The Utes are coming off a series win against BYU.
After that is the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City, the Wildcats’ last chance to try and earn Regional hosting duties, as it looks like they are currently not among the 16 teams that will host a Regional. As of Sunday, they are No. 19 in the RPI.
“These fans in Tucson are absolutely incredible, I mean, they show out every single time,†Jenkins said. “It'd be awesome to host a regional for them, it really would, so that's our goal these next couple of weekends.â€

