WEEK 6 (MARCH 13-15): CALIFORNIA // Berkeley, Calif.
#18/17 Arizona Wildcats (22-7, 1-1 Pac-12) // #11/11 California Golden Bears (22-2, 1-1 Pac-12)
FOLLOW THE CATS
T.V.: Pac-12 Network (Troy Clardy and Kenzie Fowler)
Live Audio: http://mixlr.com/arizonasid
Live Stats: http://arizonalivestats.com
Live Updates: Twitter: @UA_Softball (twitter.com/ua_softball)
THE GAMES
Date Time (PDT) (Rank) Opponent Location
Friday, March 13 3:00 p.m. (18) Arizona 9, (11) California 2
Saturday, March 14 12:00 p.m. (11) California 7, (18) Arizona 4
Sunday, March 15 4:00 p.m. (11) California Berkeley, Calif. (Levine-Fricke Field)
THIS WEEK: After a 27-game nonconference schedule, 18th-ranked Arizona (21-6) is set to begin Pac-12 play this week in Berkeley, Calif. The Cats will look to bounce back from a rough weekend at the Judi Garman Classic, where they fell to No. 1 Florida, No. 9 Baylor and No. 14 Auburn and defeated Long Beach State and Fresno State. The results were a microcosm of the season so far: Arizona is 20-0 against teams outside the top 25 and 1-6 against ranked opponents. The Wildcats will look to buck that trend when they take on the 11th-ranked Bears in three-game series. Arizona returns to Berkeley for the second consecutive season. The Cats took two of three from Cal last season and lead the all-time series 71-30. The series marks games 6-8 in Arizona’s 12-game road trip, its longest since a 2005 13-gamer.
LEADING OFF
- Arizona opens the 2015 Pac-12 season in Berkeley. The Cats will look to open the 2015 conference season on a better foot than 2014 when Arizona was swept at UCLA to open conference play. The Wildcats are in search of their first Pac-12-opening-series victory since sweeping Stanford in 2011.
- Arizona finished 14-10 in Pac-12 play last season, good for fifth in the conference.
- The Wildcats are 35-37 (.486) in Pac-12 play since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2012. Since joining the Pac-10 in 1987, Arizona is 442-165-1 (.728).
- The Wildcats have proven power throughout the lineup (109 homers led the country in 2014), but Arizona has added a new element to its offensive attack in 2015: speed. Arizona has stolen 32 bases this season in 32 tries. The 32 steals are fourth in the Pac-12 and better Arizona’s 2014 total of 24 stolen bases. On the other side of the ball, Chelsea Goodacre has allowed just six steals in 11 attempts.
- Additionally, Arizona has already hit 10 triples in 2015. The 10 three-baggers lead the Pac-12 and better UA’s 2014 60-game total of eight. In 2012 and 2013, Arizona hit a combined six triples (2 in 2012, 4 in 2013).
- Arizona is 7-0 in night games, but just 14-6 during the day.
- Chelsea Goodacre hit three home runs in Arizona’s sweep of UNLV last week, giving her 55 career homers, ninth most in Wildcat history. Goodacre is two shy of tying Jenae Leles, Arizona’s current volunteer assistant coach, for eighth all-time.
- Over the last two calendar years, Arizona owns seven victories over top-five competition. Most recently, the Cats defeated No. 4 Oklahoma, 5-4, on Kellie Fox’s walkoff homer in the bottom of the seventh on Feb. 19 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. It was Arizona’s first victory over Oklahoma in the last nine games of the series.
- UA already owns two walkoff wins this season. Ashleigh Hughes hit a two-run, come-from-behind triple in the bottom of the eighth to beat Oklahoma State (3-2) on Feb. 8. On Feb. 19, Kellie Fox hit a walkoff homer to break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the seventh vs. No. 4 Oklahoma. Both walkoff hits went to the opposite field.
- After sweeping UNLV, Arizona is 631-72 (.897) all-time at Hillenbrand Stadium. More impressively, UA has lost just 17 nonconference games in the stadium’s 22-plus years; its 385-17 record in such games equates to 96 victories in every 100 games.
- The Wildcats have scored more runs (184) than opponents have total hits (117).
- Arizona has walked just 56 batters (2.33 walks/7 IP) this season, fourth fewest in the Pac-12. This bucks a recent concerning trend. In 2014, UA pitchers walked 5.35/7 IP. 2013 - 3.98/7; 2012 - 3.78/7; 2011 - 4.17/7.
- Underclassmen seem to be adjusting well to the collegiate game. Freshmen and sophomore are hitting .370 with 15 of Arizona’s 32 home runs. Meanwhile the upperclassmen are hitting .358 on the season.
- Trish Parks has been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three of the first four weeks of the season. Most recently, Parks went 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA in the circle and batted .400 at the plate, helping Arizona to a sweep of the Wildcat Invitational (2/27-3/1) to earn the award.
SCOUTING THE BEARS: The 11th-ranked Golden Bears (21-1) enter Pac-12 play with one of the conference’s best offenses (2nd in batting average - .376) as well as pitching staff’s (2nd in ERA - 1.89). Cal has won nine consecutive games coming into the weekend. The Bears have victories over then-top-10 competition when they took down No. 1 Tennessee (1-0) and scored seven runs in the seventh to defeat No. 9 Florida State (7-6). Three Cal players (Jazmyn Jackson - .494, Britt Vonk -.456, Danielle Henderson - .443) have averages over .400 on the season. Stephanie Trzcinski (9-0, 1.09 ERA, 33 Ks, 51.1 IP, .208 b/avg) leads the team in the circle.
CATS VS. THE BEARS: Arizona is 71-30 all-time vs. Cal, including taking 2-of-3 from the Bears in Berkeley last season (full report on page 4). The series victory vs. Cal was Arizona’s first series win over the Bears since 2010. Arizona and Cal first met in 1982.
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 1,408-344-2 (.805). 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). On Feb. 27 vs. UTEP, Candrea became the sport’s fastest ever, and second all-time, to reach 1,400 wins; Candrea is the sport’s active wins leader. 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.
Winningest Division I Coaches (Softball)
1. Margie Wright (Illinois State 1980-85; Fresno State 1886-2012) 1,457-542-3 (.729)
2. Mike Candrea (Arizona 1986-2003, 05-07, 09-)* 1,408-344-2 (.805)
3. Yvette Girouard (La.-Lafayette 1981-2001; LSU 2002-11) 1,285-421-1 (.753)
*Active coach
Winningest Division I Coaches (All Sports)
1. Augie Garrido, baseball (SFS 1969; Cal Poly 1970-72; CSFU 1973-87; Ill. 1988-1990; CSFU 1991-96; Texas 1997-)* 1,930-898-2 (.675)
12. Cliff Gustafson, baseball (Texas 1968-1996) 1,427-373-2 (.792)
13. Mike Candrea, softball (Arizona 1986-2003, 05-07, 09-)* 1,408-344-2 (.805)
THE RANKINGS: Arizona dropped to 18th in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll and 17th 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.
WHO’S HOT?
Michelle Floyd: Of Arizona’s 44.0 innings pitched last week (seven games), Floyd threw 32.0 of them, showcasing her ability to be the team’s workhorse. In Arizona’s seven games against ranked competition this season, Floyd started five of them, including tossing 5.1 of scoreless ball against one of the best offensive teams in the country, No. 4 Oklahoma, and handed active NCAA career home run leader Lauren Chamberlain her first strikeout of the season. Overall, Floyd leads the team with a 2.76 ERA on the season while facing some quality competition.
Kellie Fox: Over her last 68 at-bats, Fox is hitting .456 and slugging .706 in a stretch spanning 23 games. She has driven in 22 runs in the frame and has five doubles, three triples and two home runs, including a walkoff, opposite-field homer to beat No. 4 Oklahoma 5-4. Fox has reached base in 16 of Arizona’s past 17 games, with hits in 14 of those contests.
Chelsea Goodacre: Goodacre has six home runs in her last 35 at-bats in a span stretching 15 games. Over those 15 games, the senior has a team-high 12 walks, helping her to a .451 OBP. On the season Goodacre leads the team and is second in the Pac-12 with 36 RBI. She’s tied for the team lead with eight homers.
Ashleigh Hughes: After falling into a 1-for-13 rut, Hughes has hit in four consecutive contests, going 5-for-her-last-9 (.556) including three RBI and two stolen bases.
Chelsea Suitos: The redshirt senior leads the team with a .458 batting average. Over the last 12 games, Suitos is 15-for-27 (.556) and is getting on base at a .647 clip. In that span, Suitos has five stolen bases. The left fielder leads the team with nine steals in nine attempts.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Wildcats are 48-3 in the last 51 games, including 17-0 this season, inside the friendly confines of Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium. Since its opening in 1993, Arizona has put up a 631-72 record on the field. That’s a .897 winning percentage at home in the last 22-plus years. Hillenbrand has led the nation in attendance nine times since 1994 and set the NCAA record in attendance in 2011 when 77,129 fans turned the turnstiles (since broken by Alabama). For the eighth consecutive season, Arizona is drawing over 2,000 fans per game in 2015. In 11 home dates, the Wildcats are averaging 2,121 per contest. UA has lost just 17 nonconference games in the stadium’s 22-plus years; its 385-17 record in such games equates to 96 victories in every 100 games.
BEATING THE BEST: In 2015, Arizona has played seven games against teams ranked in the NFCA Top 25, including three against the top 10 and two against the top five. UA is 1-6 against the top 25, 1-2 against the top 10 and 1-1 against the top five. Since 1994, Arizona is 525-217-1 (.715) against ranked competition, 254-147 (.636) against top-10 teams and 124-100 (.554) against top-five teams.
FRESH FACES: The Cats have six newcomers 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.
FOLLOW THE TEAM: Be sure to follow the Wildcats on their various social media platforms. To stay up-to-date on all the latest happenings with the team, follow Arizona softball on Twitter (@UA_Softball) and for behind-the-scenes photos and infographics, follow the team on Instagram (@UA_Softball).
UP NEXT: Arizona concludes its 12-game road trip next week when Arizona takes on Connecticut and San Diego State on March 18 in San Diego before heading to Las Cruces, N.M. for a doubleheader on March 21.
