Mowatt, Sisk to take the mound again

Arizona pitched a near combined no-hitter and slammed out back-to-back home runs in last weekend’s two exhibition games, but UA softball head coach Mike Candrea remains on his same consistent game plan.

The Wildcats host five exhibition games over the weekend, beginning today at 2:30 p.m. against Arizona Western at Hillenbrand Stadium.

“”We don’t change a lot of what we work on,”” Candrea said. “”It’s a game of fundamentals and repetitions. We pretty much do the same things each week: prepare yourself, come out and put things together a little more each time.””

Tomorrow, Arizona plays UTEP at 5:30 p.m., followed by Central Arizona at 7:30. The exhibition matchups conclude with Sunday’s doubleheader against Cypress at 3 p.m. and Pima at 5.

Candrea will start pitchers Taryne Mowatt and Lindsey Sisk during the five-game stretch, after superb outings in last Saturday’s doubleheader. Both pitchers combined for a one-hitter 4-0 win against Yavapai, coming two outs away from a no-hitter in Sisk’s first taste of college action. Then they led the team to a 10-1 win victory in five innings.

Mowatt, who allowed five innings of no-hit ball, plans to improve on staying consistent and hitting spots. Such stretches of consecutive games, she added, will help the team prepare mentally for the regular season of many games, and eventually, the Women’s College World Series.

After overcoming pregame nervousness, freshman Sisk struck out eight batters across seven innings. From working on drop balls throughout the week of practice, Sisk hopes to improve on pitch placement.

“”I always knew you had to hit your spots, but definitely more in college,”” Sisk said.

Candrea believes 35 innings over a three-day span increases live at-bat experience, providing plenty of opportunities to use backup players. Like the first two exhibition games, Candrea will also use pinch runners when the time comes.

Such live game experience in all aspects of the game, he added, provides plenty of mental work not found in practice.

“”The more live at-bats you see, the better you get at making decisions at the plate,”” Candrea said.

“”Being aggressive, being able to pull the trigger and putting good swings at good pitches – that’s part of the game.

“”That’s all part of the repetition that I’m talking about,”” he added. “”The more live we see, the better this team is going to get offensively.””