Wildcat Invitational Tournament Central

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WILDCAT INVITATIONAL
FEB. 25-28 • TUCSON, ARIZ. (HILLENBRAND STADIUM)

THE GAMES

WEEKLY NOTES
 

LEADING OFF

• Third-ranked Arizona softball opened the season 5-0 at the Hillenbrand Invitational, outscoring its opponents 45-5 over the five games. Arizona run-ruled four of its five opponents in the tournament.
• Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after reaching base in 13 of 17 plate appearances over the weekend, hitting .667 with two homers.
• The Wildcats moved up one spot to No. 3 in the NFCA Top 25.
• Arizona's pitchers were dominant in the Hillenbrand Invitational. All five UA pitchers took the circle, combining for a 0.50 ERA over 28.0 innings.
• Hanah Bowen threw her first career no-hitter, facing the minimum 15 batters in a near-perfect outing vs. New Mexico (2/20). It was the 94th no-hitter in Arizona history.
• Dating back to last season, the Wildcats have won 16 consecutive games. That is the second-longest streak in the NCAA behind Oklahoma State (21). Arizona's last loss came over one year ago (Feb. 21, 2020).
• Arizona hit 11 home runs last weekend, led by Malia Martinez's three. Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza, Dejah Mulipola and Sharlize Palacios had two apiece.
• The Wildcats have two of the two three home run hitters in the country. Jessie Harper is the active career leader with 76 home runs, 19 shy of the NCAA record, while Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza is tied for second among active players with 63 homers.
• Arizona head coach Mike Candrea is the winningest coach in NCAA softball history, with 1,638 wins (all at Arizona). He surpassed Michigan's Carol Hutchins in the penultimate game of 2020; Hutchins enters this season with 1,631 career victories.

ARIZONA SET FOR SECOND STRAIGHT HOME TOURNAMENT  

• For the second straight weekend, the Cats will remain in the friendly confines of Hillenbrand Stadium, set to play five games over four days in the Wildcat Invitational. 
• The Wildcats will welcome BYU (5-4), Colorado State (1-4), Oregon State (5-0) and Seattle University (4-6) to Hillenbrand Stadium for the four-day, 13-game event.
• Arizona is 114-4 all-time in the Wildcat Invitational, which the Wildcats have hosted 24 previous times. The Wildcats have won 22 consecutive games in the event, including a 4-0 weekend last season. Last year, Arizona beat South Dakota, Boise State, SIUE and Indiana.
• Dating back to last season, Arizona has won 11 straight games at home. Arizona is 5-0 at home this season and 761-101 all-time at Hillenbrand Stadium.
• When the Wildcats and Beavers meet on Saturday, it will be nonconference game between the two teams. It will mark Arizona's first "nonconference" game vs. a Pac-12 foe since March 21, 2004 (vs. Washington). It will be the first of many this season, though, as every Pac-12 series will feature one "nonconference" affair in addition to three conference games.
• Schedule
  • Thursday: Originally scheduled to play once on Thursday, the Wildcats picked up an additional game to help amend for their week 1 cancelations. Arizona will now face BYU at 3 p.m. and Colorado State at 6 p.m. MST. 
  • Friday: Arizona will face Seattle University on Friday at 3 p.m. MST.
  • Saturday: The Cats meet Oregon State on Saturday at noon MST.
  • Sunday: UA will conclude the Wildcat Invitational vs. Colorado State at noon MST on Sunday.
• Live Coverage
  • T.V.: N/A
  • Live Stream: All of Arizona's games (as well as Oregon State's) will be streamed for free at arizonawildcats.com/SBLIVE. The five non-Pac-12 games will be streamed by FloSoftball for a subscription fee.
  • Live Stats: Live stats for all games this weekend will be available at arizonastats.com.
  • Twitter: Follow @ArizonaSoftball to keep up with the team this weekend and all season long.

BYU COUGARS (5-4)    

• BYU has won four straight after a 1-5 start to the season.
• The Cougars have played a challenging schedule already this season, with all four of its losses coming to Pac-12 teams; BYU lost to No. 16 Arizona State in extra innings (7-5, 8), lost to Utah by a run (1-0) and fell to second-ranked Washington just 4-1. 
• Rylee Jensen-McFarland was named the WCC Player of the Week and Auturmn Moffat-Korth was the conference pitcher of the week for their efforts during BYU's 4-1 run through the St. George Classic.
• Series History: Arizona has won seven of the eight meetings between the teams in school history. 

COLORADO STATE RAMS (1-4)    

• Colorado State opened up its season last weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational after it was another participant in the Texas Classic that was canceled week 1.
• The Rams defeated host Texas A&M in the event, but fell in close contests to Texas Tech (twice), Central Arkansas and the Aggies.
• Colorado State was led by pitcher Jessica Jarecki, who posted a 1.87 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 15 innings last week.
• Series History: The Wildcats have won all 16 matchups between the two teams. 

    
OREGON STATE BEAVERS (5-0)  

• Oregon State is receiving votes in this week's NFCA Top 25 after its perfect 5-0 start to 2021.
• The Beavers were off last week after sweeping the Easton Invitational, picking up wins vs. Utah State (2x) and host Cal State Fullerton (2x) in addition to a single win at Loyola Marymount.
• Oregon State has a team 1.27 ERA after a dominant start to the year.
• Series History: Arizona holds a 106-14 all-time series advantage over Oregon State. Arizona has won 10 straight since OSU's last win in 2016. The last time the teams met, Alyssa Denham threw a no-hitter on her 21st birthday (March 24, 2019).

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY REDHAWKS (4-6)

• Seattle University rebounded from a 0-5 start to the season at the Kajikawa Classic for a 4-1 showing at last weekend's Hillenbrand Invitational. The Redhawks' only loss in the event came to Arizona (10-2, 5 inn.).
• The Redhawks are led by a solid offense, which scored 39 runs in five games in Tucson last weekend. Ally Choate leads the team with a .517 batting average.
• Series History: The teams have met just twice in history, both coming since the start of 2020; Arizona is 2-0 in those games. UA won last week's matchup, 10-2 in five innings; Dejah Mulipola hit two home runs and drove in five in the win.

RANKINGS     
NFCA: #3 • USA Softball: #4

• The Cats moved up to No. 3 in the NFCA Top 25 and remained No. 4 in the USA Softball Top 25 following their 5-0 weekend to open up 2021. 
• Preseason: Arizona started the 2021 season ranked third in both polls, UA's best preseason ranking since 2010 (#2 NFCA, #1 USA Softball).
• The Conference of Champions: The Pac-12 owns the three of the top five teams in the poll, with UCLA No. 1, Arizona No. 3 and Washington No. 5. In all, the league has five top-25 teams, with No. 8 Oregon and No. 13 Arizona State also in the rankings.
• The Cats' schedule is again among the toughest in the nation. Including its canceled contests, UA was scheduled to play 21 games against teams ranked in the top 15 of the NFCA 25, including 14 against top-10 opponents. With the exception of Arizona's four-game series vs. UCLA to close the regular season in Tucson, every game vs. a team currently ranked in the top 25 will be away from Hillenbrand Stadium.

WILDCATS RAKE IN PRESEASON HONORS    

• USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List: Three Wildcats -- Jessie Harper, Dejah Mulipola and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza -- were named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List. This marks the fifth straight year the Wildcats have had at least three players on the list.
• Softball America Top 100 Players: Arizona placed five players on Softball America's Preseason Top 100 Players, including three top-13 players. Arizona is one of two teams nationally with more than two top-20 players.
  • #3 Jessie Harper    
  • #11 Dejah Mulipola
  • #13 Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza
  • #73 Reyna Carranco
  • #76 Mariah Lopez
• D1 Softball Preseason All-Americans: The entire middle of the UA defense -- its catcher, second baseman, shortstop and centerfielder -- were named D1 Softball Preseason All-Americans. Arizona's four selections were the second most in the country. Dejah Mulipola was a first-team selection while Reyna Carranco, Jessie Harper and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza were second team selections.
• Softball America's Top Freshmen: Arizona placed two first-year players on Softball America's Preseason Top 25 Freshmen. The list featured both true freshmen as well as 2020 freshmen who received their year of eligibility back. Both of Arizona's selections were true freshmen, part of the Wildcats' No. 1 ranked recruiting class.
  • #8 Carlie Scupin
  • #25 Sophia Carroll

SENIOR SALUTE    

• Arizona will be led by its stellar super senior class in 2021. All seven (including Dejah Mulipola, who took an Olympic redshirt in 2020 to train with Team USA) seniors decided to return for an additional season. All seven will play key roles for the Wildcats, with five position starters as well as UA's top two pitchers.
• The Wildcat senior class has won 170 games with a .802 winning percentage in their careers.
• Offensively, the five position-playing seniors have hit a combined .341 in their careers with 221 home runs and 762 RBI.
• In the circle, both Denham (Louisiana-Lafayette) and Lopez (Oklahoma) started their careers elsewhere but are set for their grand finales in the cardinal and navy. In their careers, they have combined to go 113-16 with a 1.77 ERA and 812 strikeouts.

THE CHASE FOR HISTORY    

• Two legends, two Hall of Famers, Arizona's Mike Candrea and Michigan's Carol Hutchins, are battling it out to become the winningest coach in the sport's history. Candrea grabbed the edge in the penultimate game of 2020. Candrea has 1,638 wins while Hutchins has 1,631.
• Each of Candrea's 1,633 victories have occurred over 33 years of coaching at Arizona (his record does not include UA's 2004 and 2008 records when he was coaching the Olympic team) while Hutchins is in her 37th year (including a season in NCAA Division II).
• Candrea is fourth all-time in NCAA Division I victories (across all sports).
• In 2019, Candrea became the fastest coach in NCAA history, in any sport, in any division, to record 1,600 career wins. 

HOME RUN U

• Arizona's historical dominance in the sport of softball extends to many facets of the game, but no stat has been dominated by any team much like the Wildcats have owned the long ball.
• Arizona hit 11 homers in the Hillenbrand Invitational and currently ranks sixth nationally, averaging 2.20 home runs per game.
• The Wildcats have hit 2,239 home runs since softball became a Division I sport in 1982, the most of any team by far in NCAA history.
• The Wildcats have hit at least 100 home runs seven times in school history. No other school in the country have more than three 100-plus home run seasons.
• A Wildcat has led (or co-led) the Pac-12 in home runs in seven consecutive seasons. In five of those years, Arizona also had the runner-up.
• Arizona has four of the top six home run hitters in NCAA history, including Katiyana Mauga, who hit a Pac-12-record 92 from 2014-17, three shy of the NCAA record. Jessie Harper enters the year just nine homers shy of joining this list.

For Arizona's complete notes, click HERE.