SEASON REVIEW
Following a 36-win regular season, the 2016 Wildcats went on a postseason run to remember, culminating in their 11th NCAA Super Regional appearance in 12 years, but fell one victory shy of the Women's College World Series, the closest the Wildcats have been since finishing as the national runner-up in 2010.
The Wildcats finished the regular season with a record of 36-19 and an RPI of 22, earning Arizona its 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, tying Fresno State for the longest in the sport's history. However, for just the second time since 1991, UA was not given a national seed and would have to hit the road for postseason, and was selected to the Knoxville Regional.
Arizona used dominant pitching by Danielle O'Toole, solid defense and timely hitting to stun the home crowd with a 3-0 showing in Knoxville, beating the host Volunteers twice, including an eight-inning walkoff victory in the regional championship. It earned the Cats their 27th Regional Championship and a berth into the Auburn Super Regional, where UA would meet up with the fourth-seeded Tigers.
UA carried its momentum into Auburn and took game 1, 5-3, overwhelming AU with small ball and a two-hitter by O'Toole. But Auburn took games 2 and 3 to halt the Wildcats' run and end UA's season.
The Wildcats were led all season by success in the circle, posting the team's best ERA (2.67) since 2010 (2.19). O'Toole became Arizona's first first-team all-Pac-12 pitcher since 2010, putting together a season-to-remember for the Cats, leading the Pac-12 in victories (26) and finishing third in ERA (2.17) and strikeouts (192). It was a staff-wide effort though, as Taylor McQuillin (12-8, 3.17 ERA, 137 Ks, 128 IP) had an impressive rookie campaign and Nancy Bowling (2-0, 3.44 ERA, 30 Ks, 38.2 IP) and Michelle Floyd (0-1, 3.94 ERA, 7 Ks, 10.2 IP) gave the Wildcats key innings as well.
The offense was tasked with replacing its top four hitters from 2015, when Arizona boasted one of the top offenses in the country. Although Arizona hit 37 fewer home runs and saw its average dip 55 points from 2015, the Wildcats displayed a scrappy offense with a propensity to win close, low-scoring games. Arizona was a sterling 34-3 when scoring more than three runs.
Arizona's final record of 40-21 marked UA's 28th 40-win season in program history. Along the way, head coach Mike Candrea surpassed Fresno State's Margie Wright as the second winningest coach in NCAA softball history. Candrea, who is already the sport's all-time leader in Division I victories, sits at 1,468 for his legendary career.
UA was led in 2016 by its junior class and will lose just one player from the roster, catcher Lauren Young, heading into 2017. Arizona's senior class will include 2016 first-team all-conference performers O'Toole, Katiyana Mauga and Mandie Perez to go along with Arizona's two top hitters Eva Watson (.387 average) and Mo Mercado (.378). The Wildcats have the No. 3 recruiting class in the nation incoming (FloSoftball).
While the 2017 Wildcats figure to be loaded and all eyes will certainly be on Arizona's chase to make its return to the Women's College World Series, there may be another fun chase for fans to keep an eye on. Mauga sits at 67 career home runs, already sixth in Arizona history and top 30 in NCAA history. Mauga hit 21 home runs in 2016, 26 in 2015 and 20 in 2014, making her the first player in NCAA history to hit 20-or-more homers in her first three seasons. Mauga sits 20 homers shy of Stacie Chambers' 87 home runs from 2008-11, the Arizona career record. The NCAA record of 95, held by Oklahoma's Lauren Chamberlain, could also be in play for Mauga.
TOP FIVE MOMENTS FROM 2016
1. Knoxville Regional Championship
Recap // Box Score // Video
After winning the first two games of the Knoxville Regional, the Wildcats found themselves in need of just one win on Championship Sunday to move on. Tennessee was nine outs away from forcing a decisive winner-take-all game when the Volunteers led Arizona 3-1 entering the fifth. UA rallied to support Danielle O'Toole and Taylor McQuillin's brilliance in the circle, plating two runs in the fifth to tie the game. Tennessee put runners at second and third in the top of the seventh, threatening to break the 3-3 tie, but O'Toole retired the next three batters to keep the game tied. In the bottom of the eighth, Nancy Bowling reached on an error to begin the frame, was moved into scoring position on Lauren Young's sacrifice bunt. Tamara Statman singled to left and Arizona walked off as Knoxville Regional Champions.
The victory gave Arizona its 27th regional title, but the first road regional as an unseeded team since winning the 1991 Tempe Regional on its way to the program's first national title. Arizona was solid in all three aspects of the game in Knoxville, posting a 0.95 team ERA, a .989 fielding percentage and scoring 10 key runs, nine of which occurred in the fourth inning or later, in three close, low-scoring affairs.
Arizona opened postseason play by taking down Ohio State 2-0 on O'Toole's two-hit shutout before O'Toole allowed just one baserunner, the first UT hitter of the game, in a 4-0 victory over the host Volunteers. Arizona closed it out with the 4-3 walkoff win in eight innings over Tennessee in the championship.
2. Perez Powers Cats Past Arizona State
Recap // Box Score // Video
One day after Joelle Krist hit a two-out home run to break a 0-0 tie in the top of the seventh inning and give Arizona a 2-0 victory over rival Arizona State, Mandie Perez launched a two-out, two-run, go-ahead home run, this time to erase a one-run deficit and help secure a series victory over Arizona State in Tempe.
3. Arizona Walks Off on Lauren Young's Senior Day
Recap // Box Score // Photo Gallery
The Wildcats celebrated the career of their lone senior Lauren Young on the final day of the regular season. There was plenty to celebrate as the Wildcats run-ruled California thanks to four home runs, punctuated by Katiyana Mauga's walkoff two-run blast in the sixth. Young, a four-year starter for the Wildcats was joined by her brother Brandon, a four-year team manager, and other family members for the special postgame celebration.
4. O'Toole Shuts Out No. 4 LSU
Recap // Box Score
Danielle O'Toole threw a three-hit shutout against No. 4 LSU, the team that eliminated the Wildcats from the postseason in 2015 in the Baton Rouge Super Regional, a series still fresh in the mind of the Wildcat returners just seven games into the 2016 season. The victory over the Tigers was the highest-ranked victory of the season for the Wildcats and one of five wins over SEC opponents for the Cats.
5. Arizona Selected to 30th Straight NCAA Tournament
Story // Video
There was never a doubt, the Wildcats were going dancing, but hearing your name on Selection Sunday is always special, and for Arizona, it heard its name for the 30th consecutive season, the longest active streak in the NCAA and now tied for the longest streak overall. On Selection Sunday, the Wildcats found out they were destined for the Knoxville Regional, kicking off a postseason run to remember.
SEASON NOTES
- Danielle O'Toole led the Pac-12 with 26 victories and Katiyana Mauga tied for the league lead with 21 home runs. The Wildcats were just one of two teams (Georgia) with a 20-win pitcher and 20-home run hitter. O'Toole and Mauga are Arizona's first 20-homer, 20-win teammates since 2011 (Kenzie Fowler and Stacie Chambers).
- With two home runs vs. Cal in the final series of the regular season, Mauga crossed the 20-homer plateau for the third consecutive year, making her the only player in NCAA history to hit at least 20 home runs in each of her first three seasons. Her 67 career home runs are already sixth in Arizona history and top-30 in NCAA history with an entire year of eligibility remaining.
- Mo Mercado ended the season on a career-long 11-game hitting streak. Mercado hit .417 with two doubles, a home run and seven RBI in the final 11 games of the season.
- Arizona's walkoff victory in the Knoxville Regional marked the second consecutive season Arizona has walked off in eight innings with a regional championship. In 2015, Kellie Fox's single to score Chelsea Suitos in the bottom of the eighth gave Arizona a 7-6 walkoff win over Minnesota. This year, UA defeated host Tennessee when Tamara Statman singled home Nancy Bowling to send the Cats to supers.
- Head coach Mike Candrea was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Century as a part of the Pac-12 All-Century Softball team. Arizona placed 11 players on the 30-player team: Leah Braatz (C), Amy Chellevold (1B), Jenny Dalton (2B), Laura Espinoza (SS), Caitlin Lowe (OF), Leah O'Brien (OF), Alison McCutcheon (OF), Jennie Finch (P), Nancy Evans (P), Susie Parra (P) and Alicia Hollowell (P).
- Candrea sits at 1,468 career victories, recently surpassing legendary Fresno State coach Margie Wright for second in NCAA history. Candrea, who already held the record for the NCAA Division I victories and wins at one school entering the year, now trails only Michigan's Carol Hutchins for the overall NCAA lead. Hutchins, in her 35th year, has won 1,484.
- Though the accomplishments of all three coaches are terrific, there are some factors that make Candrea's 1,468 victories stand out. His win total has come in 29 years of coaching (Arizona's 2004 and 2008 win totals do not count toward Candrea's record as he was coaching Team USA) while Wright's 1,457 victories took 33 years to accomplish and Hutchins is in her 35th year of coaching. Additionally, both Wright (Illinois State) and Hutchins (Ferris State) spent time in lower NCAA divisions. Each of Candrea's 1,468 career victories have come at Arizona, making him the winningest coach in NCAA Softball Division I history.
- Katiyana Mauga tied for the conference lead and tied for fourth in the NCAA with 21 home runs. Ten of Mauga's 21 home runs either tied the game or gave Arizona the lead. She had two walkoff homers this season.
- Arizona's pitchers have posted a 2.67, the program's lowest since 2010 (2.19). Danielle O'Toole finished second in the Pac-12 with a 2.17 ERA, the lowest since Kenzie Fowler's 1.53 figure in 2010.
- Danielle O'Toole threw shutouts vs. No. 11 Tennessee (4-0), No. 14 Tennessee (1-0) and No. 4 LSU (3-0), making her the first Wildcat to throw multiple seven-inning shutouts vs. top-15 opponents since Taryne Mowatt memorably did so in 2007.
- O'Toole led the conference in complete games (24) and shutouts (9).
- The Wildcat pitching has taken a lot of pressure off the offense, which lost its top four hitters from an offense that was fourth in the NCAA in home runs (104), fifth in batting average (.351), sixth in slugging percentage (.603) and seventh in runs/game (7.56) in 2015. Arizona is 34-3 when scoring more than three runs.
ARIZONA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Arizona has been selected for every NCAA Tournament since 1987, Mike Candrea's second year on campus. The 30-year streak is the longest active streak in the country and tied for the longest in the sport's history. UA won its 27th Regional Championship with its three wins in Knoxville. Arizona is 160-57 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
HEAD COACH MIKE CANDREA: Arizona head coach Mike Candrea finished his 31st year at the helm of the Arizona softball program with a career record of 1,468-379-2 (.795). A winner of eight national championships (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007), Arizona has made 22 trips to the Women's College World Series under his guidance, missing just six times in the last 27 years (2004, 2011-2015). On Feb. 27, 2015 vs. UTEP, Candrea became the sport's fastest ever coach, and second all-time, to reach 1,400 wins; Candrea is the sport's Division I wins leader. Under Candrea, Arizona has a spectacular postseason record of 160-57 Fifty-four All-Americans with a staggering 95 total citations have played in the program since Candrea took over. Candrea has the sixth-most Division I victories of any coach in any sport.
THE RANKINGS: Arizona finished the season ranked No. 14 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and No. 15 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The Wildcats started the season ranked 13th and 15th, respectively. The full rankings and a breakdown by week can be found on page 6.
A WEEKEND TO REMEMBER: After taking a medical redshirt in 2015 and wondering if she'd ever find herself on a softball field again, Nancy Bowling made a valiant comeback in 2016 and was essential to Arizona's early season success as UA's every day first baseman. However, Bowling fell into a slump and assumed a bench role prior to the start of Pac-12 play, seeing the occasional pinch hit appearance.
In the final week of the regular season, Bowling began her weekend by receiving her degree at Arizona's first ever Student Athlete Convocation on Thursday morning. That night, Bowling hit her first home run since Feb. 28, a pinch-hit grand slam. On Friday, Bowling threw four innings of scoreless relief. On Saturday, Bowling, who had returned to the starting lineup after her grand slam, went 2-for-2 with a three-run home run. She was named Pac-12 Player of the Week to cap it all off.
She kept it going this weekend by leading the team in hitting (.500) at the regional and scored the winning run in the championship game. Coach Candrea called her the team's “spark” after Sunday's game vs. Tennessee.
FIFTH INFIELDER: Danielle O'Toole finished fourth on the team with 67 assists defensively. Her 67 assists are the most by a Wildcat pitcher since Carrie Dolan's 72 in 1997.
PLEASE, NO WALKING: Arizona's pitchers walked just 2.1 batters/seven innings and had more than triple the amount of strikeouts (366) as walks (118). The accuracy comes on the heels of a five-year stretch in which Arizona walked five batters per seven innings.
JUNIOR WILDCAT CLUB: Eight of Arizona's 17 healthy players were juniors this season, including three redshirt juniors. Five of Arizona's top six hitters (by batting average) and three of Arizona's four pitchers are juniors.
A HISTORIC PACE: Katiyana Mauga has 67 career home runs through just 178 career games played. She recently became Arizona's fastest player to hit 60 home runs. Mauga is the seventh player in Arizona history to hit 60 career homers, but just the third to do so during her junior season. Mauga, who remains on pace to challenge both the Arizona record in career homers of 87 the NCAA record of 95, finished 2016 fifth among active players in the NCAA in career home runs, and the only non-senior in the top nine.
POWERFUL, BUT PATIENT: In addition to her home run prowess, Mauga is also drawing a historical number of walks. Mauga's 43 walks this season were second in the Pac-12 and are one shy of cracking the school's top-10 season mark. Additionally, Mauga has drawn 108 career bases on balls, three shy of cracking the career top-10 list. Though the Arizona career record of 178 (Jenny Dalton, 93-96) is likely out of reach, Mauga has a shot to be one of the top-five walk-draw-ers in Arizona history when it's all said and done.
10-10-10: Mandie Perez has double digit doubles (11), home runs (11) and stolen bases (12). She is the first Wildcat in the 10-10-10 club since Brigette Del Ponte in 2012.
SWIPE RIGHT: Arizona has stolen 38 bases this season after averaging 37 total steals over the past three seasons. Two Wildcats, Ashleigh Hughes (12 SB) and Mandie Perez (12 SB) are leading that charge. This marks just the second time since 2008 with multiple players collecting double-digit steals. UA had three in 2012 with Karissa Buchanan (20), Brigette Del Ponte (14) and Chelsea Suitos (13). Hughes and Perez are in the top 10 in the Pac-12 in stolen bases.
1-0: Arizona defeated 14th-ranked Tennessee 1-0 at the Bama Bash, harkening back to the days of pitching domination in NCAA softball. Arizona has won 110 games by a 1-0 score in school history. Incredibly, it has occurred just twice since 2008 (vs. Tennessee and Feb. 13, 2013 vs. Nebraska).
HOME SWEET HOME: Since its opening in 1993, Arizona has put up a 664-87 record in the friendly confines of Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium. That's an .888 winning percentage at home in the last 23-plus years. Hillenbrand has led the nation in attendance nine times since 1994 and set the NCAA record in attendance in 2011 when 77,129 fans turned the turnstiles (since broken by Alabama). The Cats averaged 2,088 fans per home game, marking the ninth straight season over 2,000 fans. UA has lost just 20 nonconference games in the stadium's 23-plus years; its 403-21 record in such games equates to 96 victories in every 100 games.
STREAKING INTO THE POSTSEASON: Arizona has appeared in every NCAA Tournament since 1988, Mike Candrea's second year on campus. That's 30 consecutive years in the tournament for Arizona. Not only is that the longest active streak, but it is seven years longer than the second longest streak.
BEATING THE BEST: Since 1994, Arizona is 543-243-1 (.700) against ranked competition, 256-161 (.624) against top-10 teams and 128-110 (.549) against top-five teams.
FOLLOW THE TEAM: Be sure to follow the Wildcats on their various social media platforms. To stay up-to-date on all the latest happenings with the team, follow Arizona softball on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (@UA_Softball).
