Midway through their softball season, the Arizona Wildcats felt like they were playing catch-up. Not just in the standings, but with themselves, too.
“We played a lot of home games at the beginning of the year,” Arizona coach Caitlin Lowe said. “We didn’t get to bond as a team.”
At home, UA players are often separate from each other — especially on days they have class before a game — until they arrive at the stadium.
It’s not until they depart Tucson for a weekend that the players get to slow down and enjoy each other’s company. Such has been the case the last two weeks. The Cats traveled to Columbia, Missouri, for the NCAA Regionals; after winning Sunday, they traveled straight to Starkville, Mississippi, for the best-of-three Super Regionals. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m.
“Now we’re getting to hang out together, eat meals together,” Lowe said. “They’re going to a movie and getting to hang out away from the softball field.”
The tight-knit Cats are two wins away from a third straight Women’s College World Series appearance.
Said Lowe: “It’s become fun.”
Part of that fun has been embracing the underdog mentality. Not many expected Arizona to make the playoffs after finishing last in the Pac-12. Even fewer figured the Wildcats would emerge from a four-team regional that included No. 15 Mizzou as well as Illinois and Missouri State.
“It’s super unusual for Arizona to be the underdog, and that took so much pressure off,” UA second baseman Allie Skaggs said. “I feel like we’re playing super loose; we have nothing to lose at this point. We’ve made it farther than I think a lot of us thought we were.”
Arizona's players say they're playing freer during a postseason that many thought they wouldn't make. "It’s super unusual for Arizona to be the underdog, and that took so much pressure off," second baseman Allie Skaggs says. "I feel like we're playing super loose; we have nothing to lose at this point. We've made it farther than I think a lot of us thought we were."
Win or lose this weekend against Mississippi State, the Wildcats are sure to soak up the experience.
“We’re enjoying every single minute of it and it has made it easier to just go play softball,” Skaggs said.
So why Starkville?
Shortly after the Wildcats upset No. 15 seed Missouri, Mississippi State followed with an even bigger shocker, beating No. 2 national seed Florida State twice in the same day to win the Tallahassee Regional.
With both the Cats and Bulldogs unranked, it was fair to wonder where the next round of games would be played.
Both Arizona and Mississippi State put in bids, but with the Bulldogs a No. 2 seed in their regional — and Arizona a No. 3 seed — the Bulldogs received the hosting nod.
“If (Mississippi State) hadn’t put in a bid, we might have had a chance,” Lowe said. “But I think since they were the No. 2 seed, it was pretty automatic.”
Cats’ plans for MSU slugger
If there’s one player on the Bulldogs to pay extra close attention to, it’s Mia Davidson, who ranks as the Southeastern Conference’s all-time home runs leader with 91.
“There’s always the potential that she’s got home run pop in that bat,” Lowe said.
Davidson launched a key solo home run to put the Bulldogs ahead of Florida State in Sunday’s first game. She’s hitting .371 with 22 homers this year.
Arizona is somewhat familiar with Davidson’s power, having faced her back in the 2018 NCAA Regionals in Tucson. That day, Davidson homered off UA pitcher Alyssa Denham in the first inning, but Taylor McQuillin got Davidson out in her next two at-bats to help the Cats win 4-3.
“It’s just about going at her like we have been, but also being smart when we need to,” Lowe said.
