Box Score

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The high-powered Arizona offense scored three times in each of the first two innings and cruised to a 9-0, five-inning victory over Ivy League champion Cornell on Friday evening at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Softball Stadium in game two of the NCAA Tucson Regional. The third-ranked and 10th-seeded Wildcats improved to 44-11 and advanced into Saturday's winners bracket pf the double elimination tournament, while Cornell slipped to 37-14 and will meet Oklahoma State in a loser's bracket game at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Cowgirls lost an 8-6 contest to Hofstra in the opener.

Playing in front of a capacity crowd of 2,557 Arizona fans under the lights, the Big Red settled down after the first two innings and picked up confidence heading into Saturday's game. The Wildcats ended the game with three runs in the fifth, including a walk-off home run by Lauren Schutzler.

Seniors Elise Menaker and Devon March each had two hits in the game, including a double for Menaker, while Tomlinson got Cornell's first hit of the night in the second inning. Elizabeth Dalrymple went the distance in picking up just her sixth loss of the season.

For Arizona, Kenzie Fowler picked up the win b y scattering five hits in her 4.0 innings of work, striking out seven. Each of the top three hitters in the Arizona lineup had a pair of hits as the Wildcats ended the day with 12 as a team.

The Big Red went down in order in the first, and Arizona wasted little time in its half. A walk, a bunt single and a long drive into the left-centerfield gap loaded the bases with no one out. Two more walks with the bases loaded and a bloop single over short made it 3-0 before Dalrymple could work out of trouble. Cornell had its best chance to score in the top of the second, loading the bases on a pair of singles and a walk. Tomlinson hit a shot up the middle, followed by an infield hit by March. A walk to Vanessa Leonhard filled the bases with two outs, but Kenzie Fowler struck out Erin Keene to end the rally.

Arizona tacked on three runs in the second, getting a big two-out double in the gap by Stacie Chambers to make it 4-0, then having Brigette Del Ponte get a hold of a fastball and driving it over the leftfield wall to make it 6-0.

A nifty double play on a snatched-line drive by Keene at second base saved Cornell in the third, as the Wildcats reached on three base hits without scoring a run. Cornell added a pair of hits in the fourth inning, but also couldn't dent the scoreboard.

The Wildcats ended the contest early with three runs in the fifth, with a Brittany Lastrapes RBI double and Schutzler's bomb on the first pitch she saw to send the home team into the winner's bracket.