Arizona Softball Loses Two More Players in Transfer Portal

Former Arizona softball P Sydney Somerndike and OF Zaedi Tagalog became the latest Wildcats to transfer through the portal as they announced their commitments to UCLA and Pacific.  

UA lost 10 players in total through the transfer portal following last year’s disappointing end to the season under coach Caitlin Lowe where the Wildcats lost the regional they hosted with a pair of losses against Ole Miss. 

Somerndike appeared in 24 games with seven starts across her two seasons played in Tucson. She did not play during her sophomore year in 2024 due to an injury. 

As a freshman in 2023, she made all seven starts across 22 appearances where she posted a 4-2 record and held opposing hitters to a .271 batting average. Her best start came against CSU Bakersfield where she threw a complete game, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts across five innings. 

Last season, she appeared in just two games in a limited role, recording two outs with one strikeout. 

Tagalog appeared in 68 total games across the past two seasons with 65 of them being as a pinch-runner and three of them being as a pinch-hitter.

The Tucson product made 22 appearances as a true freshman in 2024, scoring nine runs across 21 instances of entering the game as a pinch-runner. Last season, she scored 15 runs across 44 appearances as a pinch-runner and two appearances as a pinch-hitter.

Despite the Wildcats not making it out of their regional last year, Lowe received a one-year contract extension earlier in July. She had been entering the final year of her contract next season, so the extension will give her another year to prove herself as the long-term solution to coach Arizona softball. 

While UA lost a significant number of players in the transfer portal, Lowe made up for it by bringing back six players to Tucson through the portal. The additions were P Jenae Berry from Indiana, OF Addison Duke from Ole Miss, OF Tele Jennings from San Diego, INF Serenti Trice from Iowa State, P Jalen Adams from Iowa and UTIL Grace Jenkins from UConn. 

Lowe also has four incoming freshmen next year to add to the roster. 

It is shaping up to be a prove-it year for Lowe following the one-year extension she received this offseason.