If the unveiling of the NCAA Tournament bracket is any indication, the Arizona softball team isn’t quite back at the top.
It’s close, though.
Arizona will be the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, behind No. 1 Florida, and will begin its attempted trek back to the Women’s College World Series at Hillenbrand Stadium.
As one of the tournament’s top eight teams, the Wildcats head their own region, the Tucson Region, and are in line to host the regional round this weekend and, should the UA advance, the Super Regional round next week.
Arizona will open against New Mexico State at 6:30 p.m. Friday The other teams in Arizona’s region, which is double elimination, are St. Francis (Pa.) and South Carolina. The rest of the regional’s games will take place Saturday.
“It’s all about the body of work, and you have to complete that body of work to be able to get that two seed,” UA coach Mike Candrea said.
“They’ve done that part of the job and now it’s taking advantage of being at home and embracing the opportunity to move forward, because it’s not an easy task no matter where you’re at. But I like our chances here at Hillenbrand.”
This will mark the 22nd season that the Wildcats have hosted postseason games. Arizona last hosted a regional in 2015, and haven’t hosted a Super Regional in 2011, when the Wildcats were upset by Oklahoma. Arizona hasn’t made it to the WCWS in Oklahoma City since 2010.
“I think we’d all agree we like to play at home, to play in front of our fans, our crowd and here at Hillenbrand,” said UA senior Mo Mercado. “Last year we had to go on the road and we took care of business in regionals, (then) we fell short in Super Regionals. … We’re just going to take it one game at a time and just be excited to play in front of our own city.”
Last year, the Wildcats traveled to Tennessee and upset the Volunteers in the regionals before losing at Auburn in the Super Regionals.
The No. 2 seeding is Arizona’s highest since 2007, when the UA was the No. 1 overall seed and won its eighth national title at the Women’s College World Series. That was also the last time Arizona won the Pac-12 title, a feat the Wildcats accomplished this season after finishing with a 48-7 record, 18-6 in conference.
“Things are clicking, we just need to keep things clicking, take it one game at a time and go from there,” Mercado said.
The Wildcats have some familiarity with their first opponent, too — Arizona went to Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a doubleheader against the Aggies on April 18. The Wildcats won both games by a combined score of 19-1.
It’s not the first time Arizona has faced New Mexico State in the postseason. The Wildcats beat the Aggies 8-0 in the Tucson Regional in 2011. NMSU was also a participant in the Tucson Regional in 2015, but was eliminated before facing the Wildcats.
About the familiarity, Candrea said “it always helps, but it can help on both ends. I think we’ll go to work and try to put together our game plans for New Mexico State. … That’s what the next couple of days are going to be, gathering information. Right now it’s just getting our team prepared.”
Should Arizona advance to the Super Regionals, the Wildcats would host a three-game series the next weekend against the winner of a pod that includes No. 15 Baylor, James Madison, Oregon State and Kent State.
Arizona wasn’t the only highly-ranked Pac-12 team — four of the top six teams came from the conference, including No. 3 Oregon, No. 5 UCLA and No. 6 Washington. Utah was No. 11.
That the Wildcats were able to come out of the conference play on top was an accomplishment, but UA pitcher Danielle O’Toole said that doesn’t mean much now that postseason has begun.
“I think everyone had a tough schedule, regardless of where you’re at,” she said. “Everyone’s going for the same things, there are different emotions and different teams show up when it’s time for postseason.”
Inside pitch
- The Pac-12 will announce its awards on Monday at 11 a.m. The Wildcats are favorites for a number of awards, including player of the year (Katiyana Mauga), coach (Candrea), pitcher (O’Toole) and freshman (Jessie Harper), in addition to all-conference and all-freshman team selections.
- New Mexico State has some local flavor on its roster — outfielder Amy Bergeson (Sahuaro) and pitcher Kayla Green (Cienega) are from Tucson.
