Hosting 1st Pac-12 Softball Tournament at Hillenbrand Stadium makes sense in every aspect

It almost seems like it was meant to be.

When Pac-12 softball coaches decided that they would follow other conferences across the country and have a league tournament, there was no better location for the first one than Tucson.

After all, no one has had a greater impact on the game of softball than former UA coach Mike Candrea.

Candrea not only put Arizona on the map as one of the elite programs in the country, but he also had his hand in so many aspects of the game, from how it is played, to uniforms, to schools investing in the sport and providing top-notch facilities.

“The fact that it’s going to be on Mike Candrea Field with him there is going to be pretty incredible,” said Lisa Peterson, the Pac-12’s senior associate commissioner for sports management and championships.

“Being the first one, it wasn’t the intent going into it, but the fact that we get to celebrate and honor him and the impact that he’s had not just at Arizona, in the Pac 12, but college softball and actually USA Softball, it’s just the perfect storm. It’s a great way to kick off the Pac 12 Softball Tournament.”

The tournament starts Wednesday at Hillenbrand Stadium with No.-8 seeded Arizona playing No. 9-seeded ASU in the play-in game at 6 p.m.

The first semifinal on Friday will be on ESPNU. The nightcap, along with Saturday’s title game, will be on ESPN2.

Four quarterfinal games will be played on Thursday, including the winner of the UA-ASU matchup vs. No. 1 seed UCLA.

Peterson added that with the weather, upgrades to Hillenbrand a few years ago, the Wildcats’ fanbase and the history of the UA program — with eight national championships, 12 conference championships, 25 World Series and 35 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances — Tucson was the ideal choice to host the inaugural tournament.

The Wildcats jumped at the opportunity to host.

“We’re so beyond proud,” Arizona coach Caitlin Lowe said. “It was a no-brainer for us, especially because we had the new facility built. It’s just a special place to play softball, and everybody enjoys coming here. (We’ll) sell the place out, which matters. Hopefully, you’ll be able to see that environment on TV. (We’re) just proud to have the Tucson community rally around softball and love their softball, not just here but across the country. We’re just excited to host the first one.”

Format, future

The conference’s decision to add a tournament keeps the league top of mind for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. It might also help Pac-12 teams with their seeding.

The coaches selected a single-elimination format for the first go-round, because “I don’t think that they wanted to beat themselves up as far as the number of games that you’re playing before you’re heading into an NCAA Tournament,” Peterson said. “But they wanted the exposure related to (having a tournament).”

She added: “We’re not married to that (format). This is the first year; we’ll see how it all goes.”

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As with the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, which started last season and will be held in Scottsdale May 23-27, the coaches have the option to make changes. Baseball started with a double-elimination format, and this season is moving to a pod format with three teams in each pod.

Softball is also different from baseball in that the tournament is hosted by schools — not at a neutral site. The event will rotate each year. Next season it will be played at Stanford, the following year at Oregon.

So while the Pac-12 is involved in planning the event, it’s being run by the host school, Arizona. With experience hosting so many NCAA regional and Super Regionals throughout the years, being in this position is in UA’s wheelhouse and gives someone like Peterson and her team a “huge comfort level” for the first tournament.

“We just pulled out the schedule, and instead of it being four teams at an NCAA Tournament, it’s now eight teams after you get through that first day,” Peterson said. “(UA is) just plugging in different names than what they have in the past. There’s a great level of comfort related to all of that and little bitty details that you don’t have to worry about because you know that they’ve already managed those details in the past.”

There were lots of logistics to figure out from where teams will practice — they all can’t practice at Hillenbrand, especially given the schedule — to moving people around. Wednesday and Saturday with only one game being played will be the easiest days. Friday has the added challenge of Arizona’s graduation, and Thursday with eight teams playing is just as difficult.

“Everybody can’t be in the same place all at once,” Peterson said. “It really is just trying to track little ants everywhere and figure out how to move them around. But again, make it be fuel and be like a championship atmosphere.”

Not only has Arizona been here before with major softball events, it always comes back to the man who started it all.

“We’ve had Mike Candrea on our calls, and he’s been invaluable because we have not only his knowledge of the University of Arizona, but his coach’s perspective in planning this and things that we needed to think about that would benefit (coaches) and their teams,” Peterson said.

“It’s been phenomenal. It’s something that I will certainly cherish. It will be one of my favorite memories when I look back on my career, when you get to be a part of something that’s the first.”

Replay in effect

The league will be using instant replay during the tournament. Arizona started using instant replay when the Pac-12 season started. With cameras positioned in numerous places around the stadium, the umpires have different angles when reviewing a call to ensure accuracy.

The opportunity for coaches to challenge calls — they get two per game — also was available in the postseason last year.

“There’s serious strategy behind it,” Lowe said. “It definitely feels better having that under our belt. We’ve seen how it can go wrong and how it can go right. And I think we’ve done a great job of getting to this point as a whole conference.”