Two Arizona softball players were honored by the Big 12 this week following the Wildcats’ dominant home sweep of Houston.
Senior catcher Sydney Stewart was named Big 12 Player of the Week, while pitcher Rylie Holder was named Freshman of the Week.
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.
Stewart had a series for the ages, going 3 for 3 with three home runs and eight RBIs. She drew seven walks, six of which were intentional. She had a 1.000 on-base percentage, a 4.000 slugging percentage and a 5.000 OPS.
Stewart has been named Big 12 Player of the Week two times this season. She leads the conference in multiple categories, including on-base percentage (.584), slugging percentage (1.055), OPS (1.639), RBIs (73) and walks drawn (41). Stewart is second in the league in home runs (19).
Holder appeared in two games against the Cougars and was credited with the win in both. She threw eight innings and did not give up a run.
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In Game 2 of the series on Saturday, Holder allowed three hits in five innings and tied her career high with five strikeouts. For the season, Holder is 11-4 with a 4.48 ERA.
Arizona concludes the regular season Friday-Sunday at Utah. The Wildcats likely will be seeded second or third in next week’s Big 12 Tournament, which runs from May 7-9 in Oklahoma City.
Contact sports reporter/columnist Michael Lev at mlev@tucson.com. On X (Twitter): @michaeljlev. On Bluesky: @michaeljlev.bsky.social
Michael Lev
Sports Reporter/Columnist
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