After sweeping the Hillenbrand Invitational by a combined score of 50-1, the No. 1 Arizona softball team will face a much bigger challenge, as the Wildcats continue their eight-game home stand tonight when they host No. 18 Baylor.
The Wildcats (20-1) won their tournament in dominant fashion, mercy-ruling their opponent in four of the five matches. Arizona senior pitcher Alicia Hollowell and freshman thrower Taryne Mowatt pitched 27 combined innings, giving up only one run and seven hits total.ÿ
The Bears (18-6) are also coming off their own tournament victory, as they hosted the Compass Bank Invitational last weekend, and are winners of 10 of their last 11 games.
“”Baylor is a very good team, and it will be a very good test for us,”” Arizona head coach Mike Candrea said. “”I’m looking forward to it. It will be a battle of two great teams in a three-game series, and that’s good for us since it gets us back in conference mode.””
The series marks the first time that Arizona will play nontournament action this season.
Hollowell is just two wins away from breaking the all-time Arizona wins record (124), held by former pitcher and assistant coach Nancy Evans. She already is Arizona’s all-time strikeout and innings pitched record holder.
“”Hollowell wants to dominate the game,”” Candrea said. “”She definitely has a presence when she walks on the mound. It’s almost expected of her now. When you have a great athlete that works hard and prepares well, then good things happen.””
After the weekend set with Baylor, Arizona travels to Cal State Fullerton for the Judi Garman Classic. Formerly known as the Kia Klassic, the inaugural Judi Garman Classic will feature 16 of the country’s elite softball schools competing in four pools.
The Wildcats portion of the tournament is scheduled to start on Thursday, when they will face UNLV (12-10) at 9 a.m. and No. 19 Texas A&M (15-8) at 11:15 a.m.
Arizona has previously bested the Aggies twice this season with combined scores of 20-0. In the Kajikawa Classic, the Wildcats mercy-ruled the Aggies 8-0 Feb. 11, and in the Palm Springs Classic Feb. 24, they did so again, 12-0.
Arizona will also face Cal State Northridge (8-6) in the tournament on the following day at 4 p.m. Championship round games will take place between the four pools in the final two days.
“”It has always been a very, very tough tournament,”” Candrea said. “”The next week is a big challenge for us along the way, but I think it will get us ready for Pac-10 play.””
