The No. 1 Arizona softball team (29-3) has ended nonconference play with a bang.
After impressive performances in last weekend’s sweep of No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette (23-6), sophomore pitcher Taryne Mowatt and junior second baseman Chelsie Mesa won this week’s Pacific 10 Conference pitcher and player of the week awards, respectively.
It is Mowatt’s second Pitcher of the Week award in as many weeks, after she won her first award for Arizona last week.
Mowatt received the win in all three of the Wildcats’ wins over the Ragin’ Cajuns. Her statistics included a shutout in Saturday’s win, a 0.44 ERA in 16 innings pitched and 26 strikeouts.
“”It feels good,”” Mowatt said. “”But I think the best thing that came out of it was our team was able to win after a couple of big losses with Alicia (Hollowell) and Caitlin (Lowe) being out.””
Senior ace Hollowell went down two weekends ago in the Judi Garman Classic when she was hit in the head by a line drive, and junior center fielder Lowe was sidelined in the same game after injuring her hand sliding into first base.
“”I think it was a big deal for our entire team for us to come out and beat a very good team,”” Mowatt said.
“”Chelsie deserved her award because she hit amazing,”” Mowatt added. “”The other team was scared of her every time she came up to bat.””
In the series, Mesa hit .636 (7-for-11) with a home run, five RBIs and four runs scored. Her combined slugging percentage and on-base percentage was a whopping 1.849.
Mesa had two errors in Sunday’s game, but neither of them affected the outcome of the game, in part because of her bat.
“”I was coming out of a slump, so it felt pretty good to pick myself up mentally,”” Mesa said. “”I got a lot more confidence to help me come out of my slump.””
The award was Mesa’s first honor in her short career at Arizona.
“”It feels awesome,”” Mesa said. “”Hopefully there will be more to come.””
On top of the two players winning Pac-10 honors, Arizona also regained the top spot in the national rankings after a week in the No. 2 spot.
The team also received good news from the injury front when Hollowell told the team that she was cleared to pitch for this weekend. The timing of the news is especially good for the upcoming weekend, since it marks the opening of Pac-10 play at Oregon State and Oregon.
“”This is a big weekend,”” Mowatt said. “”It’s the opening weekend, and we are on the road, and as (head) coach (Mike Candrea) says, ‘In order to win the Pac-10, you have to win on the road.’
“”Hopefully Alicia and I can go out and shut them down.””
