The No. 21 Arizona softball team, previously ranked No. 23 in the country on Tuesday, Feb. 20, will be heading on the road for the first time this season to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to compete in the Crimson Classic from March 1-3. 

Arizona softball (16-1) is coming off its second tournament sweep of the season winning all six games in the Hillenbrand Invitational. 

In the Crimson Classic, the Wildcats will face the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Southern Alabama and their toughest competition No. 11 University of Alabama, the tournament’s host.

The Wildcats will play Alabama twice in the tournament as they look to continue to move up in the NCAA rankings. 

The Wildcats started the season with strong pitching not only from sophomore Aissa Silva (8-0), who pitched 10.1 innings to help beat the University of Indiana but also from University of Kentucky transfer Miranda Stoddard (2-1), who has 17 strikeouts on the season through the first 17 games. 

The ‘Cats’ offense has also been as impressive as ever this season, hitting 22 home runs and producing 164 hits. Arizona freshman Regan Shockey leads the teams in hits with 29 this season. However, it is senior Carlie Scupin and sophomore Olivia DiNardo leading the team in home runs, Scupin with 7 and DiNardo with 5. Scupin also leads the team in RBI’s with 27 followed by freshman Emilly Schepp with 16. 

The Wildcats will need their offense and defense clicking on all cylinders as they prepare to take on an undefeated Alabama team. 

Arizona will play Alabama twice, once on Friday, March 1, at 5:30 p.m. and again on Saturday, March 2, at 2:30 p.m. Games will be streaming live on the SEC Network. 

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