THE GAMES (Times MST)
42 | Friday, April 20 |  2,  1 | Recap | Box Score (PDF)
43 | Saturday, April 21 |  4,  1 | Recap | Box Score (PDF)
44 | Sunday, April 21 (5 p.m.) |  at  | Pac-12 National/Arizona | Live Stats | Twitter Updates | Radio: 1400 KTUC
 

---

LEADING OFF

• No. 13 Arizona, coming off a midweek doubleheader sweep of New Mexico State, will look to put an end to a six-game conference losing streak when it heads to Tempe to face No. 8 Arizona State in a three-game series.
• Arizona is wrapping up five straight weekends vs. ranked Pac-12 opponents. After facing No. 1 Washington, No. 22 California and No. 5 Oregon and No. 4 UCLA. Arizona is set to face No. 8 Arizona State this weekend. When it's all said and done it will be 12 games against top-10 competition in a 17-game span. Overall, UA will have played 13 games against top-10 teams this season, the most since facing 13 in 2011. 
• The Wildcats hit six home runs in their doubleheader with New Mexico State on Wednesday (all by underclassmen), bringing their season total to 56 in 41 games. UA leads the country with 1.37 home runs per game. Alyssa Palomino, who hit two homers in the doubleheader, now leads the Pac-12 with 14 homers this year. Jessie Harper is one behind with 13.
• The Wildcats are averaging 1.68 home runs per game at home this season and 1.00 per game on the road. No one likes hitting at Hillenbrand more than Alyssa Palomino, who's batting .460 with nine home runs in 22 games at home this season. 
• Alyssa Palomino leads the Pac-12 in slugging percentage (.838) and home runs (14); she is second in OBP (.504) and third in batting average (.419). She is one of seven players nationally (three in Power 5 conferences) with at least 14 home runs and a .410 average.
• Taylor McQuillin is tied for second in the NCAA with nine shutouts. Three of them have come against ranked teams, including one-hitters vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (2/24) and No. 22 Cal (3/29). She also has a no-hitter this season (2/11 vs. New Mexico).
• Despite returning six starters and 12 letterwinners from the 2017 Pac-12 Championship team, seven of the nine positions feature a new face in 2018. Only two players (catcher Dejah Mulipola and second baseman Reyna Carranco) are in the same position as last year; Jessie Harper (1B to SS), Alyssa Palomino (CF to 1B), Ashleigh Hughes (RF to CF) are all playing new positions. 
• Head Coach Mike Candrea is second in NCAA history with 1,549 career victories, 13 behind Michigan's Carol Hutchins (1,562).
• The top five Wildcat hitters (by batting average) are all sophomores. The sophomore class is hitting .352 with 42 home runs while all other classes are hitting a combined .260 with 14 home runs.

THIS WEEK: After sweeping a doubleheader with New Mexico State on Wednesday, No. 13 Arizona (29-12, 6-9 Pac-12) is set to head north to take on rival, eighth-ranked Arizona State in a three-game series beginning on Friday in Tempe. The top-15 matchup will feature two dominant pitching staffs and two power-hitting offenses in battle that will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks. Arizona and Arizona State are set to play Friday (5 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (5 p.m.) at Farrington Stadium in Tempe.

SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS: No. 8 Arizona State (34-7, 8-4 Pac-12) has risen into the top-10 much thanks the breakout season from G Juarez, who is 18-2 and leads the Pac-12 in ERA (0.73) and strikeouts (213) ... This conference season, ASU already owns a pair of victories over No. 1 Washington and a win vs. No. 4 Oregon ... Danielle Gibson (.416, 10 2B, 11 HR, 32 RBI) leads the offense for the Sun Devils. 

ARIZONA vs. ARIZONA STATE: Arizona holds a 93-53-1 all-time advantage over Arizona State and has won the last two series with the Sun Devils, including a 2-1 series win in Tucson last year. A recap of 2017 and the all-time series can be found on page 5.

WHO'S HOT?
Dejah Mulipola: The sophomore catcher has broken out of a slump in a big way; over her last five games, Mulipola is hitting .533 (8-for-15) with four extra-base hits (1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR). She is slugging 1.133 in those 15 at-bats.
Jessie Harper: After posting five doubles over Arizona's first 31 games of the season, Harper has six doubles over the last 10 to take the team lead with 11 two-baggers on the season. Harper leads the team and is fourth in the Pac-12 with 41 RBI on the year.
Ashleigh Hughes: The senior has hit safely in 12 of Arizona's last 14 games; over those 14 games, Hughes is hitting .347 while the rest of the team is a combined 71-for-317 (.224). She has two homers in those 14 games and four in 35 games on the season. Hughes entered the season with three total homers in 156 career games. 
Ivy Davis: Over the first 37 games of the season, UA designated players were a combined 17-for-83 (.205) with two total home runs. Ivy Davis has received the last four starts at DP and has gone 3-for-9 (.333) with her first two career home runs. She is slashing .333/.455/1.000 over the four games.

ARIZONA vs. NEW MEXICO STATE
Arizona hit six home runs in a doubleheader with New Mexico State on Wednesday, helping the Cats sweep the Aggies, 7-3 and 9-0 (5).
All six home runs were hit by underclassmen: sophomores Dejah Mulipola (2), Alyssa Palomino (2) and Jessie Harper (1) and freshman Ivy Davis (1) all went yard for the Cats.
Wildcat pitchers limited New Mexico State to one earned run on just five total hits in 12 innings. Alyssa Denham threw a two-hit shutout with a season-high eight strikeouts in game 2.

THE CHASE FOR HISTORY: Two legends, two Hall of Famers, Arizona's Mike Candrea and Michigan's Carol Hutchins, are battling it out to become the winningest coach in the sport's history. Hutchins currently has a 13-win advantage on Candrea. Below are some notes on their chase for history.

• Last year Candrea became the first coach in NCAA softball history to reach 1,500 Division I victories. Candrea, who is 1,549-400-2 (.798), trails only Michigan's Carol Hutchins (1,562-498-5, .756) in NCAA history. Candrea's victories have occurred over 31 years of coaching at Arizona while Hutchins is in her 35th year (including a season in a lower NCAA division).
• Candrea is the fastest coach in NCAA history, in any sport, in any division, to record 1,500 career wins.

CIRCLE IT: Arizona has finished second in the Pac-12 in ERA in each of the last two years (2016 - 2.67, 2017 - 1.45) and sits fifth in the conference in 2018 with a 2.220 ERA. This season, UA has been tasked with replacing 2017 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-American Danielle O'Toole, who led the conference in ERA (1.21) and finished second in strikeouts (210) and victories (30). Taylor McQuillin (19-8, 1.82 ERA) has filled that void thus far. She is 10th in the NCAA in victories (19), second in shutouts (9) and is 12th with 195 strikeouts.

HARPER HOMERS: Power-hitting shortstop Jessie Harper matched her jersey number with 19 home runs in her rookie campaign and became Arizona's first true freshman to earn first-team NFCA All-America honors since Kenzie Fowler in 2010. The Stevenson Ranch, California native is backing it up in 2018, she recorded back-to-back two-homer games vs. Fresno State and New Mexico in week 1, the first time a Wildcat had accomplished that since 2013 (Lauren Young). She is second in the Pac-12 with 12 home runs while her team-high 41 RBI are fourth in the league. Harper, the week 6 Pac-12 Player of the Week, was one of four Wildcats named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Top 50 "Watch List".

GEAUXING OUT WITH A BANG: Two-time NFCA All-American outfielder Aleah Craighton is set to finish her career in Tucson after a decorated three-year career at Louisiana Lafayette. Craighton hit .365 in her Ragin Cajun career with 48 homers, 154 RBI and a .794 slugging percentage. She was named a preseason first-team All-American by three publications and was on the USA Softball Player of the Year "Watch List". Craighton leads the team this season with 21 walks. She is seventh among all active players in the NCAA in career home runs (54) and ninth in RBI (176).

QUEEN REYNA: After posting just five extra base hits in 57 games as a freshman (3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run), Reyna Carranco has 12 in 31 games this season. She has 10 doubles to go along with two home runs. Carranco missed five games with a fractured nose and a concussion when she was hit by a 70 mph Taran Alvelo pitch in the face in game 1 vs. Washington (3/23), but returned two weeks ago vs. Oregon.

TAYLOR'S TIME: After complementing ace Danielle O'Toole during McQuillin's freshman and sophomore seasons, it's now the junior's time to shine. McQuillin, one of the most decorated high school pitchers in recent history, was terrific in her complementary role. Last year, McQuillin was one of 34 finalists for USA Softball Pitcher of the Year; this year, she began the season on the Top 50 "Watch List". McQuillin, the week 3 ESPNW Player and Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week after her dominance at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic that included a one-hit shutout of No. 4 Oklahoma, is second in the NCAA with nine shutouts and is 10th with 19 victories. The junior, who is 12th nationally with 195 strikeouts this year, sits eighth in school history in career strikeouts.

MINOR SETBACKS, MAJOR COMEBACK: A torn right ACL on day 1 of fall practice (Oct., 2015) cost Alyssa Palomino her true freshman season in 2016. In her return in 2017, she was among the conference leaders and national freshman leaders in home runs (16) and RBI (54) heading into the postseason. Two days prior to last year's Tucson Regional, Palomino tore her left ACL in practice. Now, the redshirt sophomore is in the process of overcoming both devastating injuries. Palomino, who made the switch from the outfield to first base this season, leads the Pac-12 in home runs (14) and slugging percentage (.838) and is second in OBP (.504) and third in batting average (.419). She is trying to become the first Wildcat since Hallie Wilson in 2014 to post a .410 average with double-digit home runs. Here are the all-time .400 seasons with 10-plus home runs in UA history.

HOME RUN U
Arizona has hit 2,067 home runs since softball became a Division I sport in 1982, the most of any team in NCAA history. 
Arizona has four of the top six home run hitters in NCAA history,  including Katiyana Mauga, who hit a Pac-12 record 92 from 2014-17, three shy of the NCAA record.
The Wildcats led the country with 94 home runs last season, their third time in the last nine years pacing the NCAA. Overall, UA has led the country nine times since 1994.
Arizona has hit 100-or-more home runs six times in program history. Only two other schools have hit the century mark more than twice (UTSA and Louisiana Lafayette).
UA has hit 56 home runs this season, or 1.37 per game, first in the country.

BEATING THE BEST: Since 1994, Arizona is above .500 against ranked teams, top-10 teams and top-five competition. UA is 563-260-1 (.690) against ranked competition, 263-172 (.617) against top-10 teams and 129-120 (.536) against top-five teams.

R31GNING SUPREME: Arizona has appeared in every NCAA Tournament since 1988, Mike Candrea's second year on campus. That's an NCAA-Record 31 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. The 31 straight seasons breaks Fresno State's inactive 30-year streak.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: This fall, Arizona brought back Wildcat All-American, National Champion and 2007 Women's College World Series MVP Taryne Mowatt as an assistant coach, joining Caitlin Lowe on Mike Candrea's all-Arizona staff. Mowatt and Lowe were teammates on both the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Championship squad. Their combined four NCAA titles in addition to Coach Candrea's eight give Arizona's coaching staff a total of 12 as either a head coach or player, the most in NCAA softball. Add in Director of Recruiting-Operations Stacy Iveson, who helped lead UA to three NCAA titles as an assistant coach (96, 97, 01) before winning four NJCAA titles as a head coach at Pima and Yavapai College, you won't find a staff with championship pedigree quite like Arizona's. 

FOLLOW THE TEAM: Be sure to follow the Wildcats on their social media platforms. To stay up-to-date on all the latest happenings with the team, follow Arizona softball on Twitter and Instagram (@ArizonaSoftball).