Arizona Wildcats hit Palm Springs looking for consistency in the circle, at the plate

The 13th-ranked Arizona Wildcats will play their third tournament in as many weeks starting Thursday, when they open the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, California.

The UA’s first trip out of state is no vacation: The Wildcats will play North Carolina, Missouri, St. John’s, Cal State Northridge and No. 4 Oklahoma over their three days in the California desert.

The tourney follows the Hillenbrand Invitational where, after cancellations and delays, the Wildcats finally opened their home schedule. Before that, the UA went 4-1 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe.

Sophomore pitcher Alyssa Denham said she’s looking forward to some competitive games this week. Arizona is 8-1 in its young season.

“It’s so much fun stepping on the field with this group of girls and just being in this atmosphere is amazing,” Denham said.

The Wildcats play doubleheaders Thursday and Friday with a lone game against the No. 4 Sooners wrapping things up on Saturday.

UA coach Mike Candrea acknowledged the first two days will be a challenge, in part because the team plays so few doubleheaders — and almost all of them are in the beginning of the season.

“Doubleheader mentality is a lot different than playing a single game, but it is what it is and you have to learn how to deal with it,” Candrea said. “The competition is going to continue to get stiffer and stiffer.”

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Candrea said his team also needs to do a better job of making adjustments at the plate. He called its two-strike approach terrible.

“We’re just kind of hacking away at things, not trusting our eyes and our hands, but that will come with some maturity and some games,” he said.

Denham and fellow pitcher Taylor McQuillin said they plan to use the Mary Nutter Classic to make some improvements of their own. Denham is 2-0 with a 0.37 ERA in three appearances, while McQuillin (4-1, 1.69) has started five games.

“Every time I come out, I want to get better and that’s what I’m working on,” Denham said.

McQuillin, who has struck out 45 batters in five games, said she’s looking forward to being a little sharper at the start of games. The senior said she wants to get her pitches to move a bit more.

Offensively, McQuillin said the Wildcats just need more timely hits.

“If we can just get those key hits to fall when they fall, it’s going to happen,” McQuillin said. “We just have to keep swinging the bats like we’re swinging. They’ll come.”