Candrea, Cats hit road to face top competition
UA softball coach Mike Candrea plays in the game’s most difficult conference; six Pac-12 teams are in the preseason Top 25.
Nevertheless, he added to the difficulty by agreeing to play two games at No. 5 Alabama next month, and another neutral site game against No. 8 Tennessee. He will also play powerhouse Texas in Arlington.
“We need to get out of (Tucson) to play in the SEC, see bigger crowds,” he said last week. “Last year when we played in the regionals at LSU, I thought our kids kind of had big eyes.”
The SEC now rivals the Pac-12 in overall ability. And much like football in the SEC, crowds in that league for softball are bigger and more animated than those in the laid-back Pac-12. Hillenbrand Stadium remains the Pac-12 standard for game-day buzz.
Arizona will stage two big-field tournaments before Pac-12 play, but the competition won’t be what it usually is. The Tucson tournaments include Southern Utah, North Texas, Nebraska-Omaha, UC-Santa Barbara, St. Francis, UTEP and everyone but Slippery Rock.
That’s not by design. “We need to play the best to be the best,” said Candrea.
But because there are few direct flights to Tucson, it costs more to travel to Hillenbrand Stadium for a softball weekend.
Candrea said it’s more difficult to schedule home games in February than ever.
“The tables have turned a little bit,” he said. “So we just need to get out and play in some road games before some hostile crowds.”
