After playing three multi-day tournaments, and closing out the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with a shutout win against fourth-ranked Oklahoma, the Arizona Wildcats are bunkering down for the first three-game series of the season.
No. 9-ranked UA and Texas will play Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All three games will be aired on the Longhorn Network.
Coach Mike Candrea said the team is ready to play a true road series.
“It’s definitely a homefield (advantage) for (the) University of Texas and you’ve got to go in there, you’ve got to play your game and you’ve got to shut down the crowd as quick as you can,” Candrea said.
Arizona (13-1) enters the weekend series riding a 12-game winning streak. And ace Taylor McQuillin has served as the driving force to the team’s success.
McQuillin has thrown five shutouts, including one no-hitter and four consecutive one-hitters, in her last six starts. Over the last 48 innings, McQuillin has given up 13 hits; her opponents are batting a collective .063.
McQuillin, who was named ESPNW Player of the Week and Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for her efforts in last week’s Mary Nutter Classic, said her approach will change in a true road series.
“Obviously, mentality shifts a little bit because instead of playing a different team every day or a different team every game, now you’re going to playing the same team three days in a row,” McQuillin said. “So, by the third day, they kind of know who you are and know what’s going on. You’re nothing special to them anymore.”
Candrea said he couldn’t have foreseen McQuillin’s early success this season, although he hoped for it. He said she’s starting to look like the top prospect he recruited out of high school.
“She just looks like she’s locked in, and I think the big thing, that I see, is the confidence,” Candrea said. “It’s extremely high right now, and the key is to keep it there. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
The Wildcats swept the Longhorns last year when Texas visited. The UA has won 14 of the 20 matchups against Texas all-time.
