Time	Game	Game Info/Results
5 p.m.	ARIZONA 7, Drake 0	Box Score • Recap

 

Time	Game	Game Info/Results
9 a.m.	Boston College 6, Abilene Christian 5 (8 inn.)	Box Score
11 a.m.	Boston College 1, North Dakota State 0	Box Score
1 p.m.	Ball State 17, Drake 2	Box Score
3 p.m.	ARIZONA 9, Ball State 1 (6 inn.)	Box Score • Recap
5 p.m.	ARIZONA 7, Abilene Christian 0	Box Score • Recap
7 p.m.	Drake 4, North Dakota State 0	Box Score

 

Time	Game	Game Info/Results
9 a.m.	Ball State 5, Abilene Christian 3	Box Score
11 a.m.	North Dakota State 6, Ball State 0	Box Score
1 p.m.	North Dakota State 4, Abilene Christian 2	Box Score
6 p.m.	ARIZONA 21, Drake 0 (5 inn.)	Box Score • Recap
8 p.m.	Drake 3, Boston College 1	Box Score

 

Time	Game	Game Info/Results
9 a.m.	Boston College 6, Ball State 4	Box Score
11 a.m.	Drake 5, Abilene Christian 2	Box Score
1 p.m.	ARIZONA 2, North Dakota State 1	Box Score
3 p.m.	ARIZONA 12, Boston College 2 (5 inn.)	Box Score

 

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THIS WEEK: Tenth-ranked Arizona is set for its second straight weekend at home to open the 2017 season. After a 5-0 start at the Hillenbrand Invitational, the Cats welcome in Abilene Christian (3-3), Ball State (1-4), Boston College (3-1), Drake (4-1) and North Dakota State (1-4) for the Wildcat Invitational. UA has hosted the Wildcat Invitational 21 times since 1988 and holds a 102-5 all-time record at the event. The Cats went 4-2 in the 2016 Wildcat Classic.
 
CATS AT A GLANCE

• Arizona opened the season 5-0 at the Hillenbrand Invitational against a field which included five NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago. UA outscored its opponents 39-6 during the weekend. The Wildcats, whose preseason No. 10 ranking was its highest since 2012, remained No. 10 in the NFCA Top 25.
• Katiyana Mauga's career home run chase got off to good start. The senior hit an NCAA-best four home runs in five games over the weekend, giving her 71 career homers, 16 shy of Stacie Chambers and the Arizona record and 24 shy of Oklahoma's Lauren Chamberlain and the NCAA record. Mauga, who hit .429, slugged 1.357 and drove in eight, was named Pac-12 Player of the Week.
• Arizona posted a 0.88 ERA in 32 innings, led by a 3-0 weekend from Danielle O'Toole. The senior allowed one earned run 20 innings pitched (0.35 ERA) and struck out 22 batters compared to just one walk.
• O'Toole threw a five-hit shutout vs. No. 21 Baylor in her second start of the season. The transfer, in her second year at Arizona, has five seven-inning shutouts vs. ranked teams.
• Arizona is one of four Pac-12 teams in the top 10 in this week's NFCA poll. The Wildcats, who were picked second in the conference's preseason coaches poll, are one of six unbeaten teams in the conference.
• In her debut in an Arizona uniform, freshman Dejah Mulipola had seven hits in 13 at-bats to lead the Wildcats with a .538 batting average. The catcher had a double and an inside-the-park homer and drew three walks to go along with her team-high batting average.

 
OPPONENTS

• Abilene Christian: The Wildcats went 3-3 at the Centurylink Classic at Texas State with victories over Texas State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Iowa and losses to Iowa, Texas Tech and Texas State. The Wildcats hit five home runs in the six games, led by Casey-May Huff's two. Holly Neese hit .412 with a double, homer and a pair of RBI on the weekend. Arizona and Abilene Christian have never met.
• Ball State: The Cardinals went 1-4 at the Louisiana Classic to open the year, with a season-opening win over DePaul before four straight losses to close out the weekend. Ball State hit seven doubles on the weekend, led by Rachecl Houck's three. The pitchers were hurt by 23 walks in 33.1 innings pitched. Arizona is 2-0 all-time against Ball State, with both wins coming in a doubleheader on 3/4/14 (16-2, 5; 12-3, 5).
• Boston College: The Eagles went 3-1 at the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational with victories over Houston, Wright State and UC Santa Barbara and a loss to Houston. BC was led by a high-powered offense that outscored its opponents 32-13 in the four games. Jordan Chimento (.533 avg, 2 HR, 7 RBI) was named ACC Player of the Week in week 1. Arizona is 3-0 all-time against Boston College, but the teams have not met since a 10-0, six-inning Wildcat win at the 2004 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
• Drake: The Bulldogs went 4-1 at the UNI Dome Tournament with wins over South Dakota State (twice), Omaha and Montana and a loss to Wisconsin. Nicole Newman was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week after going 2-1 with a 0.39 ERA, including a no-hitter in the season opener. The Bulldogs' pitching staff has 42 strikeouts to just 38 combined hits and walks. Arizona is 7-0 all-time against Drake. Most recently the Wildcats went 2-0 against the Bulldogs in the 2015 Hillenbrand Invitational (6-1; 8-0, 5)
• North Dakota State: The Bison went 1-4 at the season-opening Cal State Fullerton Easton Invitational with a victory over Ole Miss and losses to Loyola Marymount, Utah State, Pacific and Cal State Fullerton. Jacquelyn Sertic was named Summit League Pitcher of the Week for the seventh time in her career with a 1.59 ERA in 26.1 innings with 32 Ks and four walks. Arizona is 5-0 all-time against North Dakota State, most recently, Arizona defeated NDSU 11-0 in five innings in the 2012 Tucson Regional.

 
ARIZONA IN THE WILDCAT INVITATIONAL: Arizona is 102-5 (.953) all-time in the Wildcat Invitational, with two of those five losses coming last season (a full recap of the 2016 Wildcat Invitational can be found on page 5.
 
WHO'S HOT?

• Katiyana Mauga: The senior hit an NCAA-most four home runs, slugged 1.357 and was named Pac-12 Player of the Week in week 1.
• Danielle O'Toole: Tooly went 3-0 with a 0.35 ERA in the Hillenbrand Invitational, including a five-hit shutout of No. 21 Baylor. The senior struck out 22 batters and walked just one in 20 innings.
• Dejah Mulipola: In her debut in an Arizona uniform, the freshman catcher led the team with a .538 average in 13 at-bats. Mulipola hit a double, an inside the park homer and stole a base. Not your typical catcher.
• Mandie Perez: Arizona's leadoff hitter did her job, getting on base 10 times over the weekend, including seven hits and three walks, helping her to a team-high-tying .588 on-base percentage.
• Mo Mercado: The senior had seven hits over the weekend, including at least one in every game, extending her career-long hitting streak to 16 games, Arizona's longest since a 19-gamer from Hallie Wilson in 2015. She's more than half way to the UA record of 30, done by Amy Chellevold in 1994. Mercado hit .467 this weekend and is hitting .431 over the last 16 games.

 
THE KATI WATCH IS ON: Though Katiyana Mauga's focus remains on OKC, her chase for history is on. How many #MaugaBombs can she hit? A complete breakdown of where she stands in the UA, Pac-12 and NCAA record books can be found on page 12. Here are some notes:

• Mauga has hit 71 career home runs in 180 games played. That's 16 shy of Arizona's record (87 - Stacie Chambers, 08-11), 19 shy of the Pac-12 record (90 - Stacey Nuveman, UCLA, 97-02) and 24 shy of the NCAA record (95 - Lauren Chamberlain, Oklahoma, 12-15).
• The senior is tied for the NCAA lead with four home runs this season.
• With 20 homers as a freshman, 26 as a sophomore and 21 as a junior, Mauga is the only player in NCAA history to hit 20 home runs in each of her first three years.
• Mauga's 71 career homers lead all active hitters in the NCAA by a wide margin. No other players have more than 60.

 
RED, WHITE AND BLUE TAKES ON A DIFFERENT MEANING: Arizona's long-standing tradition with USA Softball will continue this summer. Senior Danielle O'Toole was named the U.S. Women's National Team while freshmen Jessie Harper and Dejah Mulipola were named to the U.S. Junior Women's National Training Team following a selection camp in January. Arizona's ties to USA Softball run deep, most memorably as skipper Mike Candrea served as the head coach for Team USA's 2004 (gold medal) and 2008 (silver medal) teams. In 2016, a pair of Wildcats received the Association's highest honors as Kellie Fox (2014-15) was named USA Softball Athlete of the Year and redshirt freshman Alyssa Palomino was named USA Softball Junior Athlete of the Year.
 
CIRCLE IT: After a five-year span in the circle in which Arizona put up a combined ERA north of 3.50 from 2011-15, pitching has returned as Arizona's strength the last two years, coinciding with the arrival of Danielle O'Toole and Taylor McQuillin in 2016. After Arizona finished second in the Pac-12 in ERA last year (2.67), the pitching staff put up a combined 0.88 ERA five games into 2017.
 
SENIOR SALUTE: Arizona eight-player senior class is its largest since the eight seniors in 2001 went out on top, winning the program's sixth NCAA title. In 2017, UA will bid adieu to eight players who have been invaluable to the program. All eight have either been full or part time starters during their time. The octet includes four all-Pac-12 first or second teamers and has played a combined 1,010 games at Arizona, combined for 671 hits, 122 home runs, 479 RBI, 637.2 IP, 553 strikeouts and 64 pitching victories. Here are some notes on each senior's career contributions:

• Nancy Bowling: A 33-game starter in her career in the circle, plus 32 games at first base. Arizona's active career leader in strikeouts (212) in just 208.1 innings pitched.
• Alexis Dotson: A 77-game starter since transferring from local Pima College after her sophomore year. Owns a career .313 average and has scored 44 runs.
• Michelle Floyd: Arizona's ace in 2015, a season in which she tallied the most innings pitched (183.2), wins (19) and strikeouts (135) while helping lead Arizona to a 41-win season and a super regional appearance.
• Katiyana Mauga: On pace to leave Arizona as the school's all-time leader in home runs. Has put up single-season home run totals that rank in UA's top-20 in each of her previous three years.
• Mo Mercado: Has started every game (187) of her Arizona career and has put up a .353 average in 573 career at-bats, the most among active Wildcats. Three-time all-region performer.
• Danielle O'Toole: Led the Pac-12 in wins in her first season at Arizona (26) while becoming Arizona's first, first-team all-Pac-12 pitcher since 2010.
• Mandie Perez: A 157-game starter who was named first-team all-conference as a redshirt junior in 2016. Owns a career .330 average and a stellar .420 on-base percentage.
• Eva Watson: Has battled injuries, but led Arizona in batting average in 2016 (.387). Has appeared in 139 games in her career, including 65 starts.

 
OVER THE HILL: Arizona has appeared in every NCAA Tournament since 1988, Mike Candrea's second year on campus. That's 30 consecutive years in the tournament for Arizona. Not only is that the longest active streak, but it is seven years longer than the second longest streak. If Arizona makes the NCAA Tournament in 2017, it will be the longest streak in NCAA softball history, breaking Fresno State's inactive 30-year streak.
 
BEATING THE BEST: Since 1994, Arizona is above .500 against ranked teams, top-10 teams and top-five competition. UA is 544-243-1 (.700) against ranked competition, 256-161 (.624) against top-10 teams and 128-110 (.549) against top-five teams.
 
HIGH EXPECTATIONS: Arizona was ranked No. 10 in the Preseason NFCA Top 25, its highest preseason ranking since 2012, and picked to finish second in the Pac-12 by the coaches prior to the season, its highest since 2011. Why?
Arizona returns eight starters, four pitchers and 16 total letterwinners from a 40-win team in 2016. In all, the Cats return 90% of their hits (420-of-465), 91% of their home runs (61-of-67) and 90% of their RBI (268-of-298). Additionally, all four pitchers return from a staff that was second in the Pac-12 in ERA.
The Wildcats' senior class of eight is its largest in 16 years, when the eight seniors in 2001 went out by winning national championship.
Those seniors will play a key role in mentoring Arizona's seven-player freshman class. The six true freshmen -- Dejah Mulipola (No. 5 recruit, FloSoftball), Reyna Carranco (No. 16), Jessie Harper (No. 43), Malia Martinez (No. 57), Carli Campbell and Jaycee Lindley -- were rated as the No. 3 recruiting class in the country. Add in redshirt freshman Alyssa Palomino, the 2016 USA Softball Junior Athlete of the Year who missed last season with a torn ACL, and the Wildcats have plenty of fresh talent to go with their experienced core.
 
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, Instagram and Snapchat (@UA_Softball).