WEEK 2 (FEB. 12-15): HILLENBRAND INVITATIONAL // Tucson
#14/12 Arizona Wildcats (8-0) // Drake Bulldogs (6-4), Loyola Marymount Lions (3-4), Wright State Raiders (0-4), San Jose State Spartans (7-3), Loyola Chicago Ramblers (3-5)
THE GAMES
Thursday, Feb. 12
ARIZONA 6, Drake 1
Friday, Feb. 13
Loyola Chicago 11, Loyola Marymount 1 (5 inn.)
Drake 9, Loyola Chicago 1 (5 inn.)
San Jose State 12, Drake 4
ARIZONA 10, Loyola Marymount 1 (6 inn.)
ARIZONA 22, Wright State 1 (5 inn.)
San Jose State 13, Wright State 2 (5 inn.)
Saturday, Feb. 14
Drake 2, Loyola Marymount 0
Drake 2, Wright State 0
Loyola Marymount 12, Wright State 1 (5 innings)
ARIZONA 9, San Jose State 1 (6 innings)
ARIZONA 6, Loyola Chicago 2
San Jose State 11, Loyola Chicago 2 (5 innings)
Sunday, Feb. 15
9:00 a.m. Loyola Chicago vs. Wright State
11:00 a.m. San Jose State vs. Loyola Marymount
1:00 p.m. ARIZONA vs. Drake
FOLLOW THE CATS
Live Stream: http://pac-12.com/videos/university-arizona-2
Live Stats: http://arizonalivestats.com
Live Updates: Twitter: @UA_Softball (twitter.com/ua_softball)
THIS WEEK: 14th-ranked Arizona (3-0) hosts the Hillenbrand Invitational for the 19th time in the stadium’s 22-plus season history. The Cats welcome Drake (2-3), Loyola Marymount (2-1), Wright State (0-0), San Jose State (4-2) and Loyola Chicago (2-2) for the four-day, 16-game event. All-time, Arizona owns an 84-3 (.966) all-time record in the Invitational, with its last loss coming in 2009 to Creighton (6-0). The Wildcats are coming off of a sweep of Oklahoma State last weekend in which Arizona outscored the Cowgirls 21-5 over the three games. Trish Parks (.444 avg, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1.08 ERA, 10 Ks) was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for her impressive collegiate debut.
LEADING OFF
- Arizona is 84-3 (.966) all-time in the Hillenbrand Invitational and has not lost since 2009 (Creighton).
- Trish Parks became the first-ever Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (new award this year) when she hit .444 and led the team with five RBI to go along with a 1.08 ERA and 10 Ks in the circle to lead Arizona to a sweep of Oklahoma State.
- After leading the nation in home runs and returning 89% of that power from 2014, the Wildcats appeared to pick up right where they left off when they hit three home runs in the second inning of game one. However, they were the only three home runs Arizona would hit the entire weekend.
- Arizona is 617-72 (.896) all-time at Hillenbrand Stadium. More impressively, UA has lost just 17 nonconference games in the stadium’s 22-plus years; its 371-17 record in such games equates to 96 victories in every 100 games.
- The Wildcats notched 11 extra-base hits in the 17.2 offensive innings vs. Oklahoma State, good for a .603 slugging percentage. Two of those 11 extra-base hits were triples. Consider that Arizona hit just two total triples in 2012 and has single-digit three-baggers every year since 2008.
- The Wildcats stole five bases against Oklahoma State, over 1/5th their total (24) from last season. Eva Watson stole three bases herself. Watson has the speed to become the first Wildcat to steal more than 20 bases since Caitlin Lowe stole 49 in 2007.
- Underclassmen dominated for Arizona at the plate vs. Oklahoma State, going 19-for-40 (.475) with two home runs, 10 RBI, four doubles, two triples and four stolen bases. Sophomores Mo Mercado (.600) and Katiyana Mauga (.556) lead Arizona in batting average.
- The Cats have six new faces this season (Alexis Dotson, Ashleigh Hughes, Danielle O’Toole, Trish Parks, Robyn Porter and Aireal Sakasegawa), though you will only see five of them on the field this season - O’Toole, a transfer from San Diego State and reigning Mountain West Pitcher of the Year, will have to sit out this season per NCAA transfer rules. Additionally, Arizona welcomes back Mandie Perez, a 55-game starter in 2013, who redshirted last season with a torn ACL.
OPPONENTS
Drake: The Bulldogs (3-2) defeated Iowa (8-0, 6), Southern Utah (8-0, 6) and UNI (7-1) but fell to North Dakota State twice (2-1, 7-1) at the season-opening UNI Dome Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Rebekah Schmidt led the way with a .429 batting average, a double, home run and five RBI while allowing just one earned run in 20.0 innings pitched (0.35 ERA) in the circle.
Series History: Arizona 7-0 // First Meeting: 2000 // Last Meeting: 2/15/2013; Arizona 5, Drake 3; Tucson (Hillenbrand Invitational)
Loyola Marymount: The Lions (2-1) opened the season with a pair of wins over Northwestern State (4-1, 8-5) and a loss to Sacramento State at the Cal State Fullerton Easton Invitational. Amanda Dirks (.500, 2 2B, 4 RBI) led an offense which outscored opponents 13-10. LMU did not commit an error in 94 defensive opportunities.
Series History: Arizona 2-0 // First Meeting: 2011 // Last Meeting: 2/21/2013; Arizona 5, Loyola Marymount 3; Palm Springs, Calif. (Mary Nutter Classic)
Wright State: The Raiders (0-0) were off last weekend and are set to open their 2015 campaign in Tucson. In 2014, the Raiders went 19-37 (10-11 Horizon League). Kaitlyn Kite returns after leading the team with a .324 average and a .437 slugging percentage in 2014.
Series History: First Meeting // First Meeting: N/A // Last Meeting: N/A
San Jose State: The Spartans (4-2) opened the season with victories over BYU (9-8), Seattle (14-6, 5), Utah Valley (10-7) and Portland State (8-5) to go along with losses to Ole Miss (6-5) and UC Riverside (6-1) at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe. Sharon-Rena Estrada hit five home runs and drove in 15 runs and was awarded Mountain West Player of the Week for her efforts.
Series History: Arizona 6-0 // First Meeting: 1989 // Last Meeting: 3/19/2011; Arizona 14, San Jose State 6; Fullerton, Calif. (Judi Garman Classic)
Loyola Chicago: The Ramblers (2-2) opened the Total Control Sports Invitational in Rosemont, Ill., with victories over Butler (6-5) and North Dakota (8-3) before dropping the final two games of the Invitational by one run to Samford (5-4) and Miami Ohio (4-3). Hannah Jenkins was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week by College Sports Madness after hitting .667 in the four games.
Series History: First Meeting // First Meeting: N/A // Last Meeting: N/A
HEAD COACH MIKE CANDREA: Arizona head coach Mike Candrea is in his 30th year at the helm of the Arizona softball program with a career record of 1,390-338-2 (.804). A winner of eight national championships (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007), Arizona has made 22 trips to the Women’s College World Series under his guidance, missing just five times in the last 27 years (2004, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014). In 2012, Candrea became the sport’s fastest ever, and second all-time, to reach 1,300 wins. Under Candrea, Arizona has a spectacular postseason record of 155-50. Fifty-two All-Americans with a staggering 92 total citations have played in the program since Candrea took over.
THE RANKINGS: Arizona remained 14th in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll and 12th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. The Wildcats were preseason 14th in the NFCA Top 25 and 12th in the USA Softball preseason poll.
RECENT RESULTS: The Wildcats opened the 2015 season with a sweep of Oklahoma State. UA routed the Cowgirls 12-2 (5) and 5-0 in games 1 and 2 before needing an extra inning to walk off with game 3, 4-3. Trish Parks led Arizona with five RBI while hitting .444 to go along with a stellar performance in the circle (2-0, 1.08 ERA, 10 Ks, 13.0 IP) to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Parks’ performance was indicative of Arizona’s underclassmen as a whole. Freshmen and sophomores combined to go 19-for-40 (.475) at the plate for the Cats.
2/6/15 - Cats Power Past Cowgirls in Season Debut: In 2014, Arizona softball had the nation’s most potent offense. It picked up right where it left off in the season opener against Oklahoma State scoring 12 runs on 12 hits, including three home runs. Arizona defeated Oklahoma State 12-2 in five innings on Friday night at Hillenbrand Stadium.
After falling behind on a second-inning solo homer by Oklahoma State’s Mallory Collins, Arizona’s offense exploded in the second inning to score six runs; UA hit three home runs in the frame.
Katiyana Mauga, Trish Parks and Kellie Fox all had home runs as a part of the six-run second. UA would add six more runs in its next at-bat.
2/7/15 - Parks Tosses Two-Hit Shutout as Cats Win 5-0: Trish Parks hurled a complete-game two-hit shutout in her first career start as Arizona defeated Oklahoma State 5-0 in game two of the season-opening three-game series at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday.
In her debut on Friday, Parks hit a home run in her first at-bat and struck out the first batter she faced in the circle. Her second career game was even more impressive. Earning her first career start, Parks went the distance, allowing just two infield singles and striking out three in the game. The freshman retired 18 of the final 19 batters she faced. Parks also got it done with the bat, leading the team with two RBI.
A day after scoring 12 runs on 12 hits in four innings of offense, the UA offense was kept relatively quiet by Oklahoma State’s Whitney Whitehorn. The Cowgirl pitcher limited Arizona to five runs on nine hits.
2/8/15 - Hughes’ Walkoff Triple Lifts Cats in Eight: Ashleigh Hughes hit a pinch-hit, two-run triple with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3, extra-inning victory to give Arizona the season-opening sweep of Oklahoma State on Sunday at Hillenbrand Stadium.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing by a run and down to its final out, Arizona head coach Mike Candrea called upon the freshman Hughes to pinch hit with runners at first and second. In just her fifth career at-bat, Hughes fell behind 0-2 to Oklahoma State pitcher Whitney Whitehorn before working the count even. Hughes sent the next pitch to the wall in left. Pinch runner Aireal Sakasegawa scored the tying run from second before Trish Parks, whose two-out single extended the inning, scored the winning run from first.
It was another clutch two-out hit that created the opportunity for the Cats (3-0) in extras. In the bottom of the fifth trailing by two, Chelsea Goodacre doubled down the right field line with two down to plate a pair and tie the game.
