It was another adventure for the No. 14 Arizona Wildcats, but sophomore pitcher Jenae Berry turned in her best outing as a Wildcat to secure the series win against Baylor. After taking Friday’s game in run-rule fashion, UA won Saturday’s game 11-7. The Wildcats go for the series sweep on Sunday.

“I’m so proud of her,” Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe said of Berry. “I think she was perfectly herself today. Didn’t try to do too much. She hit really great spots, mixed speeds, and it was exactly what we needed. You know, she came in and the game settled down once she did come in, and she really just controlled it throughout.”

Berry entered the game in relief and went 5.1 innings with five strikeouts. Both the innings and the Ks were season highs for the righty, who transferred in from Indiana during the offseason.

“Regan [Shockey] was messing around with me after because I don’t normally strike many people out, but definitely fun,” Berry said.

Berry lowered her ERA from 7.58 to 6.68 after giving up two earned runs on three hits and no walks. She earned her second win of the season to improve her record to 2-0.

While the outing may have given Berry a boost, her teammates were grateful for the confidence she instilled in them.

“She gave some confidence to the team, for sure, that we really needed, and she allowed us to go offensively,” Shockey said. “And that’s the biggest thing I would say she contributed today. The energy.”

Shockey may not be someone who seems like she needs confidence. She rarely seems to struggle. However, she had a tough go of things for the first two games last week. She struck out three times in the first two games against ASU. Those three strikeouts gave her 12 for the season.

She has bounced back in the over the last four games, stretching back to the final game of the series against the Sun Devils. Against the Bears, she is 7 for 8 with an RBI, a stolen base, and three runs scored. She looks more like the Regan Shockey everyone knows.

“I think that’s softball,” Shockey said. “You know, people are gonna know you. It’s my third year here, and third year playing against ASU…Can’t be scared to fail, and this weekend, I’m not scared to fail at all. Not scared to strike out, because at the end of the day, no one really remembers the strikeouts more than they remember the hits and our team scoring all those runs.”

Arizona scored most of their runs during the first inning in this one. After starter Rylie Holder wiggled out of a bases-loaded situation in the top of the first, the Wildcats’ offense got to work.

The team sent 11 to the plate in the inning. It only ended because Sereniti Trice was called for leaving base early in her second time getting on base in the frame.

The Wildcats opened with three straight singles to load the bases and bring Sydney Stewart to the plate. There was nowhere to put Arizona’s biggest bat. Baylor starter Peyton Tanner walked her to force in the first run.

A sacrifice fly by Grace Jenkins put the Wildcats up 2-0, then another walk loaded the bases again. A third walk forced in the third run.

That brought up Tele Jennings, who was making her second straight start at designated player. Jennings transferred to Arizona from San Diego in the offseason. In her two seasons with the Toreros, she hit just .239 and had 24 extra-base hits.

She had struggled in her first couple of months as a Wildcat, too. She didn’t get her first hit until her sixth appearance in cardinal and navy. She came into the series hitting .231.

Lowe has been confident that Jennings would find her way, though. She has put her in as the starting DP three times in the past two weeks. This week, the junior broke through. She went 1 for 4 and reached on an error on Friday. Even the at-bats that didn’t result in hits were solid.

On Saturday, Jennings was 1 for 3. The one hit was a double that drove in three to put Arizona up 6-0 in the first. That chased Tanner.

Shockey’s groundout drove in the seventh run, then Trice scored Addison Duke with a single up the middle. If Arizona could keep Baylor under control, it might be on the way to another run rule. It was already 8-0 after the first inning.

Holder continued to have problems in the second inning, though. Her body language indicated she was a bit frustrated with borderline pitches not going her way.

Baylor’s Leah Cran led off the second with a solo shot to put the Bears on the board. A walk and an error by Trice put two on with no outs, then a double made it 8-2. Holder had runners on the corners and still no outs. Another homer and a double made it 8-5, which ended Holder’s day.

Berry entered the game with the bases clear after the 2-run homer. Her first strikeout of the night brought the inning to a close. She continued her run by sitting the side down in order in the third, and her offense responded.

Duke continued to show her power. She had two doubles on Friday. On Saturday, she added a 3-run home run to extend Arizona’s lead to 11-5.

Arizona didn’t score again, but Berry made the runs stand up. She gave up two singles and a groundout that got a runner on, over, and in during the fourth. In the fifth, she struck out the side but a solo home run was sandwiched in between.

“We can handle the ones thrown up there,” Lowe said. “Offensively, we’re gonna punch back. So I think that’s the biggest thing. Is she was able to keep it within reach?”

Lowe was also pleased that the Wildcats didn’t have to use Jalen Adams. Having another arm or two to use is something Arizona needs.

”It also provides us a different look,” Lowe said. “And she’s such a different look than both Rylie and Jalen are. So it’s just really great to have her as a bridge. It’s great to have her as an open, as a close. I didn’t think she was going to get extended that long, but she absolutely just dominated the end portion of that game.”

While the players are too young to remember the last time Arizona couldn’t close out a series against Baylor, they were happy to get the series win for those who were there nine years ago.

“When you wear this uniform, everything means everything to everyone,” Shockey said. “So we carry this A with pride, and we did it for those people in 2017. So I hope they felt this win just as much as we did.”

There’s still a goal left to attain this weekend.

“We need the sweep,” Shockey said. “There’s no other expectation…Our coaches have a very high standard for us, and that is the standard.”