Future AUSL Catcher Sydney Stewart Scores Twice as No. 16 Arizona Run-Rules Oklahoma State 9-1

STILLWATER, Okla. — Sydney Stewart scored twice and drove in a run as No. 16 Arizona run-ruled No. 21 Oklahoma State 9-1 in five innings Saturday, evening the weekend series at a game apiece with a rubber match to follow Sunday.

Stewart, a catcher who holds an AUSL Golden Ticket for the May 4 draft, delivered a run-scoring single in the second inning as Arizona built a seven-run lead through two frames. Jalen Adams pitched a complete game, allowing three hits and one run with two strikeouts.

How It Unfolded

Arizona came out scoring in the first. Regan Shockey reached and scored on a throwing error, Tele Jennings added a sacrifice fly, Tayler Biehl doubled in a run and Grace Jenkins drove in another on a single to make it 4-0 after one inning.

Three more runs came in the second. Shockey doubled to right field, Stewart followed with a single to score her for Arizona’s fifth run, and Biehl doubled again to push the lead to 7-0 and score Stewart as the seventh run. Stewart’s RBI single in the second drove in Shockey, and she came around to score Arizona’s seventh run on Biehl’s double.

Arizona tacked on two more in the third — Shockey singled again and Sereniti Trice drove in a run to reach 9-0. Oklahoma State avoided the shutout with a fourth-inning RBI single. The run rule ended it in five.

Shockey, Biehl Carry the Offense

While Stewart was part of the offensive sequence in the second, the bigger production came from Shockey and Biehl. Shockey went 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored. Biehl’s two doubles and two RBI accounted for a substantial share of the margin. Adams threw efficiently through the run-rule, handling a Big 12-caliber lineup with limited stress.

Arizona improved to 31-12 overall and 12-5 in Big 12 play with the win. Oklahoma State fell to 29-12, 10-7 in conference.

Stewart’s Spring and the Draft Picture

Saturday’s game is part of the final competitive stretch for Stewart before the AUSL draft. She is one of three catchers in the Golden Ticket class — alongside Reese Atwood (Texas) and Florida’s Jocelyn Erickson, who received her own Golden Ticket earlier Saturday in Gainesville. How the six AUSL franchises distribute those three catchers on draft day will be one of the more interesting positional decisions of the evening.

Stewart caught all five innings for Adams and finished the afternoon with a run-scoring single and two runs scored against a ranked conference opponent two weeks before the AUSL draft.

Looking Ahead

Sunday’s rubber match in Stillwater will push Arizona either to 32-12 or back to 31-13 heading into the final stretch of the Big 12 schedule. The AUSL season opens June 9. The six franchises — Carolina Blaze, Chicago Bandits, Oklahoma City Spark, Portland Cascade, Texas Volts and Utah Talons — finalize rosters through the May 4 draft.