This could be a special few days for the Arizona Wildcats.
The chance to honor their unique senior class, in front of the season’s largest crowd, amid softball’s greatest rivalry, with postseason implications on the line.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
“We have a lot riding on this,” fifth-year senior Jessie Harper said. “We’re going to embrace it. It’s just going to be a fun weekend.”
The No. 8 Wildcats (35-10, 12-7) will wrap up regular-season play with a four-game series against No. 2 UCLA (38-3, 16-2) starting Thursday night at Hillenbrand Stadium. The teams will play a doubleheader Friday before wrapping the series Saturday afternoon.
Coming into the season, the weekend series looked like it might decide the Pac-12 title. Arizona’s road struggles have taken away that opportunity.
The Wildcats are 24-0 at home and just 11-10 away from Hillenbrand Stadium. Wins over the second-ranked Bruins could help Arizona fend off No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Texas to ensure home-field advantage until the WCWS. The top eight seeds will host both regionals and super regionals.
“To beat a team like UCLA, there’s a fine margin of error,” coach Mike Candrea said. “You have to pitch with them, play defense with them and hit with them.”
In a power-versus-power matchup, UCLA brings first-Team All-American pitchers Rachel Garcia and Megan Faraimo to face Arizona’s powder-keg lineup.
Faraimo has taken on the larger load this spring, carrying a 1.10 ERA with a 16-3 record. However, Garcia’s 0.59 ERA leads the Pac-12, and she has a 12-0 record. The two have a combined 256 strikeouts in nearly 184 innings.
UCLA’s Rachel Garcia is 12-0 and leads the Pac-12 with a 0.59 ERA.
In its 14 games against ranked foes, all on the road, Arizona has nearly doubled its season average with eight strikeouts per game.
“When you face good pitching, you’re going to see that,” Candrea said. “It’s not how many, it’s when (the strikeouts happen). That’s the motto from here on out. A strikeout is going to happen; big deal. And it’s not how many hits you’re going to get, but when you’re going to get them.”
On the other side, Harper is flirting with history. The UA senior blasted her 89th career home run in Sunday’s win over Oregon. Only three players in college softball history have hit 90 or more: Oklahoma’s Lauren Chamberlain (95), Arizona’s Katiyana Mauga (93) and UCLA’s Stacey Nuveman (90).
Harper hit 29 home runs in 2019, when Arizona made it back to the WCWS for the first time since 2010. She hit 10 in 25 games last spring, putting her in position to break the record. But Harper has since struggled to regain that form, hitting 13 in 45 games this year while carrying a career-low .331 average.
However, Arizona has seen a power surge from other sources. Fifth-year seniors Dejah Mulipola and Malia Martinez each tout their career-best slugging percentage, at .860 and .607, respectively, and have combined to hit 25 homers.
Freshmen Sharlize Palacios and Carlie Scupin have broken out, tallying 15 and nine homers. Finally, Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza, Allie Skaggs and Hannah “Peanut” Martinez have combined for 16 bombs to show just how powerful the lineup can be.
