Top Five Arizona softball players of all time

January 25, 2018

5. Jenny Dalton

Jenny Dalton was an incredible hitter. Playing between 1993 and 1996, she hit .411 over her career, which was the NCAA record at the time.

She additionally set NCAA records in runs scored with 293, walks with 178 and slugging percentage with .814. She hit three home runs in a game twice.

Dalton reached the College World Series finals all four years of her career, winning three of them. Dalton won the tournament MVP award in 1996. She also achieved her best individual achievement that year, winning the Pac-10 Triple Crown, with a .469 batting average, hitting 25 home runs and driving in 109 RBIs.

4. Katiyana Mauga

Katiyana Mauga is the best power-hitter in Arizona history.

She set a school record with 92 home runs over the course of her four-year career. That’s good for second of all time, only three behind the home run leader. She is the only player in history to hit 20-plus home runs in all four seasons. Additionally, she hit at a .346 clip over her career, drove in 257 RBIs and took more walks than she struck out.

Arizona third baseman Katiyana Mauga (34) runs through first base after batting during the Arizona-South Carolina softball game on May 21 at Hillenbrand Stadium.

3. Susie Parra

Susie Parra set the Arizona record for ERA in a season with .30. The Scottsdale native was dominant throughout her entire career, posting a .63 career ERA. She led the ‘Cats to four consecutive College World Series finals, winning three championships. She didn’t give up a run in the College World Series. She additionally had eight no-hitters, a school record.

2. Alison Johnsen McCutcheon

Alison McCutcheon was an unstoppable force at the plate in her time at Arizona.

McCutcheon manned the Hillenbrand Memorial outfield from 1995–1998. She was named to the All-American first team three times and was tabbed the Pac-10 Player of the year in ’97 and ’98. She holds seven school batting records and is the only Wildcat with over 400 career hits, with 40, which is an NCAA record. She hit .534 in 1997, which still holds the school record for best batting average in a season, and holds the school record for career batting average with .466.

She additionally holds the record for hits in a season, which is also an NCAA record, with 132, career triples with 22, career stolen bases with 95 steals in 98 attempts and steals in a season with 67 in 70.

1. Jennie Finch

Joe DiMaggio managed to get a hit in 56 straight games; meanwhile, Jennie Finch managed to win 60 consecutive starts.

Finch finished her career at Arizona with a 119–16 record, a 1.08 ERA and a 1028-to-244 strikeout-to-walk ratio. She additionally hit for a .301 clip at the plate, knocked in 195 RBIs and hit 50 homeruns.

She was named a first team All-American, as well as first team All-Pac 10 for her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. She went to the College World Series all four years of her career at Arizona, and won it in 2001. She additionally won the Honda Award in 2001, which names the best softball player that season.