In a home matchup on Wednesday, April 5, the Olympians softball team overcame an early deficit to defeat Southwestern 9-5.
The Jaguars jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but that was short-lived.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, lead-off hitter and second baseman Arianna Salazar stung a sharp line drive into left-center to bring across the first two runs of the game for Mesa. Centerfielder Hannah Anderson kept it going with a single of her own, which proved to be huge.
Following Anderson’s hit, it allowed Mesa to extend the inning to their Carissa Topolinski, Mesa’s catcher and number-three hitter. With two on and two-out, Topolinski made them pay when she delivered a three-run blast to deep left-center field extending their lead to 5-1.
“I just wanted to help my teammates out. Sal (Salazar) had a really good double to start it, so I had to do my job,” said Topolinksi to credit her teammate’s clutch at-bat. She continued, “I was just looking for a pitch to hit hard, down the middle, and she gave me a good pitch [to hit].”
Southwestern rebounded with two runs of their own, but they couldn’t keep pace with the offense the Olympians brought to the stage. A trio of doubles in the bottom of the fourth brought across three more runs for Mesa as their lead grew to a comfortable 8-3.
Starting pitcher Arianna Izaguirre tossed six innings for Mesa allowing only four base runners over those frames. With the exception of a pair of hits given up in the first and third inning, Izaguirre worked quickly and efficiently to hush the Jaguars’ offense.
Her pace on the mound kept the game flow in the Olympians’ favor and her team’s defense engaged as well.
“I don’t want to get too ahead of myself or doubt myself, so I just like to keep it chill and work one pitch at a time,” Izaguirre said.
“She’s so much fun to catch for. She makes it easy,” Topolinski said following Izaguirre’s comments.
Pitcher Bailey Oftedahl relieved Izaguirre to start the seventh. Although two runs were put together by Southwestern, Oftedahl held on to the lead for a 9-5 Olympians victory. The lead was never in doubt.
Mesa’s 12 team hits stands out in the box score as the leading reason for their success during this matchup, alongside Izaguirre’s performance.
“Wednesday’s game was a TEAM win! We are finally playing as a team and coming up clutch with the bats,” said head coach Jaclyn Guidi. “We only had one mistake on defense so our focus level was on the [entire] game,” she added.
It’s likely been hard to get in the flow of things up until recently due to all the inclement weather early this year. The Olympians are looking to heat up at the right time just as the weather is.
