Big 12 coaches picked Arizona to finish third in their preseason poll, and a pair of Wildcats earned unanimous all-conference selections.
Arizona was picked to finish third in the Big 12 preseason poll, tied with ASU. Oklahoma State was second with one first-place vote, and Texas Tech first with 10 first-place picks.
The coaches vote in the poll but can’t cast selections for their own team.
“I don't think preseason polls mean anything to be honest, I don't take them too seriously,” said UA head coach Caitlin Lowe. “I think we are going to learn a whole lot about our team in the first couple months and I want to do a very good job in this position of making sure we know what we are capable of one through 20. I think that's gonna be super important because there's a lot of people that deserve at-bats, chances and we've got to figure out what that looks like as far as rotating people in different pieces within a game or giving people their shots kind of game.
“So, we're gonna find out some things, I think right off the jump.”
Arizona catcher/utility Sydney Stewart (21) catches a ground ball during practice at Hillenbrand Stadium, Oct. 15, 2025.
Senior utility Sydney Stewart and junior utility Regan Shockey were unanimous preseason Big 12 team selections. Texas Tech led the way with seven picks and ASU, BYU and Oklahoma State also had a couple selections.
In the preseason rankings, Arizona is No. 18 in the USA Softball poll, No. 17 in the NFCA’s, No. 21 by D1 Softball and 17th in Softball America’s rankings.
Cats to be tested early
Arizona’s schedule includes a rare early-season series, a trip into the heart of SEC country and trip back to the Bay Area for a tournament that includes Texas.
The Wildcats open the season with the Candrea Classic next week. On Thursday, they play a doubleheader against Southern Utah and then over the weekend play a three-game series against No. 3 Oklahoma.
Southern Utah associate head coach Taylor McQuillin will return to Tucson, where she was an All-American and four-time All-Pac-12 pick. She served as a graduate assistant at the UA and played in the 2020 Olympics for Mexico.
Southern Utah is playing in Tucson before going to Phoenix for the GCU Invitational. Oklahoma will play at ASU on Thursday before going to the UA.
“It was a full field of teams and then just luck of the draw, people started dropping out, so it's gonna be a nice challenge," Lowe said. "I mean, we don't get three-game series practice until later on, especially against a very high-level team, so it's gonna be exciting.
“We've got a lot of young hitting who haven't been challenged yet, as far as that goes. They've been challenged against us, but a new opponent and we're going to figure out how we can make adjustments from game 1 to game 3, so that's exciting for us.”
After hosting the Bear Down Fiesta and Nevada for a solo game, the Wildcats go to Stanford for the DeMarini Invitational. The Cardinal’s tourney features No. 1 Texas and No. 17 Stanford.
“I feel like it's just an exciting challenge for the beginning of the year, like starting us off and just pushing us to do the best we can for the beginning of the year," said UA senior infielder Tayler Biehl. "We can't have a slow start, which is exciting. We're really pushing ourselves to get prepared early in the season so that we can then have our best foot for when it comes to conference play and then following in the postseason, but it's just an exciting time to be able to play some of the best programs and just to compete at the highest level and do what we do.”
Arizona infielder Tayler Biehl (2) catches a ground ball during practice at Hillenbrand Stadium, Oct. 15, 2025.
The Bear Down Fiesta features Drake, Coastal Carolina, Utah Valley and Creighton.
Arizona closes out February by hosting the Hillenbrand Invitational, where Eastern Illinois, Long Beach State, Minnesota and Howard come to town.
The Big 12 features Texas Tech, tied for No. 1 with Texas and No. 20 Oklahoma State.
UA’s conference schedule is front-loaded with home games early and road games late.
“I think they look at historically what's happened in those series and they're just making a conscious effort to make it better for everyone around,” Lowe said. "I mean, we talk a lot about student athletic experience, but that's a huge thing, right? Is to not send someone to play an outdoor sport in 35 degrees, you know?
“So I think we did a great job, like as a full conference last year, getting most of our games and I think a couple teams had a harder time pre-con, but it was super helpful for us.”
UA plays Texas Tech and Oklahoma State on the road but hosts ASU, which is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate poll, coming in just outside the top 25.
In mid-April, the Wildcats travel to No. 13 LSU for a three-game series during their conference bye week. Last season, they played New Mexico State and at San Diego State in that spot.
Lowe said she is “super excited” for the LSU series.
“So (LSU head coach) Beth (Torina) reached out, and we knew that was gonna be a great, great weekend for us,” Lowe said. “I think we kind of fought tooth and nail, like back and forth, on who's going to host it.
Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe watches an early morning softball practice at Hillenbrand Stadium, Oct. 15, 2025.
“So they're going to come to us next year in one of our tournaments but we will go there this year and I think it's just great. We were on a hot streak for a second of like getting that away SEC series or tournament where we could kind of play in that hostile environment. We went to Alabama, Arkansas and I think it's really important to experience that as far as like being prepared for a postseason environment, so it's one thing to have that at home and it's another to kind of like, leave that home and be uncomfortable and nobody's rooting for you.”
