LOS ANGELES — Amidst the jubilation and celebration after winning their first Pac-12 championship in 10 years, there was a realization for Arizona softball that the Wildcats will have to now take a long breather, consider the season and prepare for the postseason for nearly two weeks.
Arizona wants to make it back to the College World Series in Oklahoma City for the first time since 2010. For now, the Wildcats have a moment to take a step back, and for Arizona’s large senior class, a little time to celebrate their graduation.
Due to Pac-12 scheduling, Arizona’s regular-season schedule concluded with Sunday’s 7-2 win against UCLA while everyone else in the conference has another weekend to go. The NCAA Selection Show will air Sunday night, and the first NCAA Regional games won’t start until May 19.
Arizona didn’t have much momentum to end the season, going 6-6 in its last 12 Pac-12 games, but the Wildcats felt good after Sunday’s conference title-winning victory.
Still, are they happy for the time off?
It’s mixed.
“No. No. Let’s continue this momentum going into postseason,” said freshman first baseman Jessie Harper, who hit a grand slam on Sunday. “I just want to continue it.”
Coach Mike Candrea gave the team Monday and Tuesday off and will resume practice on Wednesday through the weekend, with a “mock scrimmage”, he said, to take place over the weekend to keep the team in “game mode.”
Still, UA senior outfielder Mandie Perez is looking forward to the time off.
“Now we can just focus on graduating next week and the postseason,” Perez said. “Finding out where we’re going, what’s going to happen, who’s coming to Hillenbrand and then just moving forward with everything.”
Moving forward will be key — things were hunky-dory on Sunday afternoon, but it wasn’t that way all weekend.
For the first time all season, the Wildcats entered the third game of a series in dismay, on the verge of being swept. In the first two games against UCLA, the Wildcats were outscored 14-0.
“Those two games are key going into postseason, we’ll learn from those and show that every game is a battle,” Harper said. “We’re not coming out and we’re No. 1 all the time. It was a great experience, for sure, to bounce back.”
Earlier this season, the Wildcats lost to then No. 1-ranked Florida State, their first loss of the season, but the final score was just 1-0. After that, Arizona won 26 games in a row.
In April, Arizona lost two of three to Utah, but the UA won the first game 5-1 and only lost by one in game three. From there, the Wildcats beat New Mexico State twice and won two of three in series against 5th ranked Oregon and No. 22 Arizona State.
Arizona didn’t have nearly two weeks to sit on those struggles, though. The Wildcats had to play the next week every time.
The Wildcats won on Sunday, but there’s still some recovery needed if UA is to go on a postseason run.
Consider:
Mo Mercado, who leads UA with a .391 average, is hitting 6 of 27 (.222) in her last nine games.
Freshman catcher Dejah Mulipola’s batting average was .380 after a 11-1 win over New Mexico State on April 18. It has since dropped to .333 after a 3-for-27 stretch.
Alyssa Palomino led the Pac-12 in RBIs for most of the season, but has driven in just four runs in Arizona’s last 15 games and has dropped to third place with 54.
Even star slugger Katiyana Mauga has only three hits in her last seven games, with one home run.
On the pitching side, Taylor McQuillin had a 0.65 ERA on April 9. She’s since gone 2-3 with a 4.88 ERA in six appearances, bringing her ERA up to 1.87.
Still, those numbers don’t consider the whole picture — that Arizona opened the season 40-1, that staff ace Danielle O’Toole (with a 27-4 record) has been consistently dominant in the circle and that the UA has only one starting batter (Tamara Statman) hitting less than .300.
The Wildcats still have the nation’s sixth-best batting average and ERA, are third in runs scored and lead everyone in home runs.
Also this — now the Wildcats have a dominant victory, from Sunday, to carry them into the postseason.
“We’ve kind of cruised through this thing and I think this weekend was the first time we really had our backs against the wall,” Candrea said. “So they’ll learn from it.”
Added Perez: “Honestly, I think our mindset doesn’t really change (going forward) because every single Pac-12 game we just thought ‘one game at a time. Dominate them one game at a time.’ And I don’t think it changes no matter what place we go to, who we’re going to play.
“I don’t think that mindset changes because we don’t care about who we’re facing, we just care about winning that day.”
Inside pitch
• After losing the series to UCLA, Arizona dropped two spots in the RPI poll from No. 3 to No.5. The Bruins moved up to No. 4 and Oregon rose to No. 2 after sweeping second-ranked Florida State. The RPI is closely considered by the NCAA Selection Committee.
