Alyssa Palomino sure didn’t waste time re-establishing herself in Arizona’s lineup.
In her first game back from a torn ACL, the redshirt sophomore launched a game-winning two-run homer to lift the Arizona softball team to a 4-1 win over Northwestern in its season-opener on Friday in Tempe.
The sixth-inning, opposite-field drive broke a 1-1 tie. It was Palomino’s first hit, and just her third at-bat, since tearing her ACL just before the postseason last May.
She also made her first start at first base after transitioning from center field.
Northwestern would bring the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh, but Taylor McQuillin (1-0) escaped the jam to pick up her first win of her junior season.