Arizona continues its string of nine games away from home this weekend, but the Wildcats seem to enjoy the trips.
No. 11 UA (29–9) is traveling to face No. 18 LSU (26-13) for a three-game series to close out the nonconference portion of its schedule.
Arizona spends nearly all of April on the road, playing nine away games, until its home series on April 24 against Houston.
While the Wildcats can get spoiled with Tucson's weather, specifically at the start of the season in February, there is much to be gained from away games.
Road trips are a good way for Arizona softball to bond, while also preparing for hostile environments.
“I think it's just really nice (in Tucson), like that's a certainty that a lot of other places don't necessarily have when season starts off in February,” said UA senior pitcher Jalen Adams, who is from Iowa. “We need to take those games here early and that's something I never experienced at Iowa or (UA sophomore infielder Sereniti Trice) at Iowa State. ... I'm excited to be on the road. My teammates, we get closer.”
Arizona is 23-4 home, 5-3 in away games and 1-2 in neutral tilts. Four of its road games were against ranked teams, No. 1 Texas Tech and No. 23 Stanford, who the Wildcats went 2-2 against.
“It's a really cool challenge I think," said UA head coach Caitlin Lowe. "Obviously, you never want to see it get too lopsided, but at the same time, we did our best to plan for a weather schedule that makes sense, so that we could get all the games in.
Arizona utility Regan Shockey (25), left, listens to Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe and assistant coach Lauren Lappin in the dugout before Game 1 of the Candrea Classic at Hillenbrand Stadium, Feb. 5, 2026.
"But I think it's a really cool opportunity to play these, like, Super Regional type of matchups, like, winning three-game series, winning them in hostile environments, that's the next step for our team. I think that we've proven that we can do that at home and now it's time to take it on the road and not be comfortable necessarily with every circumstance, but win anyway and against really good opponents. Excited for the challenge of it.”
The Wildcats’ other road trip in April is at No. 20 Oklahoma State.
“Road games are a lot of fun," Trice said. "We love playing at home, obviously, in our environment with our fans, but going on the road and facing adversity, people being against us, our group with us, I think it's fun and it builds us for the long run when we play postseason and all of that, so we’re excited to be on the road.”
The Wildcats keep each other entertained.
“Texas Tech weekend we did karaoke on the bus, which was a lot of fun and I think to spend a lot of time together, whether that's going to get a sweet drink or just hanging out in each other's hotel room,” Trice said.
Arizona softball Jalen Adams (12) hugs Sereniti Trice (00) after pitching an 8-0 run-rule win over Southern Utah in Game 1 of the Candrea Classic at Hillenbrand Stadium, Feb. 5, 2026.
Arizona leads the all-time series against LSU 11-6, though the teams haven’t played since 2016. Every time the Wildcats have faced the Tigers, LSU has been ranked except for the first game, in 1997.
Arizona has only played at LSU twice, in the 2015 Baton Rouge Super Regionals, which the Tigers swept.
After defeating Iowa State in Ames earlier in the week, the Wildcats stayed in the Central time zone, heading to Louisiana, where they visited former Arizona star Jennie Finch, who lives in Sulphur.
Arizona will face LSU next season at home.
“(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.
“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.”
Rankings rise
Arizona moved up two spots in the USA Softball poll to No. 11. In the NFCA coaches and Softball America polls, the Wildcats moved up two spots to 12th, and they moved up one spot in the D1 Softball rankings to No. 12.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Wildcats are No. 13 in the RPI, down one spot from last week. LSU is No. 16.
Former Wildcat gets Golden Ticket
On Monday, Arkansas outfielder Dakota Kennedy received a Golden Ticket, indicating that she was drafted by the AUSL. Kennedy played at Arizona for three seasons before transferring to Arkansas.
On Tuesday, ASU pitcher Kenzie Brown became the latest to get a Golden Ticket.
On March 29, Arizona utility Sydney Stewart received one from Finch. Kennedy got hers from AUSL Commissioner Kim Ng and Brown from ESPN reporter Holly Rowe.
Stewart was the fourth player to get a Golden Ticket this season. The draft is May 4 at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.
Tiger history
Junior infielder Kylee Edwards became the first LSU Tiger to hit for the cycle last week in a 16-4 win over Missouri.
First, she hit her eighth home run of the season, then she singled, doubled and tripled in the seventh.
LSU is 6-9 in the SEC, and in 11th place in the conference.
Extra bases
– Former Wildcat player Perlini Koria-Bush was named an assistant coach for the American Samoa Women’s National Team.
– UA sophomore pitcher Jenae Berry’s brother, Jacob, played at LSU before getting drafted by the Miami Marlins with the sixth overall pick in 2022.
He played his freshman season for the UA and then followed head coach Jay Johnson to the Bayou.
