THE GAME (Times MST)
46 | Friday, April 27 |  9,  0 (5 innings) | Recap | Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
47 | Saturday, April 28 |  6,  2 | Recap | Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
47 | Sunday, April 29 (12 p.m.) |  vs.  | Live Stream | Radio: 1400 KTUC | Live Stats | Twitter Updates | Tickets

Parking: Parking in the lots surrounding Hillenbrand Stadium will be free of charge all weekend. Cherry and Second St. Garages will have paid parking on Friday; they will be free on Saturday and Sunday.  

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LEADING OFF

• Coming off its biggest series victory to date, taking 2-of-3 from No. 8 Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona returns home to begin a seven-game homestand. UA defeated New Mexico, 3-1, on Wednesday and Oregon State Friday-Sunday this week.
• Arizona moved back into the top 10 this week, both in the NFCA Top 25 as well as the NCAA RPI. UA sits at No. 10 in both.
• The Wildcats just completed five straight weekends vs. ranked Pac-12 opponents, including four top-10 opponents. UA faced No. 1 Washington, No. 22 California and No. 5 Oregon, No. 4 UCLA and No. 8 Arizona State in consecutive weeks. UA played 12 games against top-10 competition in a 17-game span. This season, Arizona has played 13 games against top-10 teams this season, the most since facing 13 in 2011. 
• Arizona is second nationally, averaging 1.31 home runs per game. On the season, the Cats have hit 59 homers, with their next, the Cats will cross the 60-homer plateau for the fifth straight season. 
• Alyssa Palomino leads the Pac-12 with 15 home runs, Jessie Harper is tied for second with 13 and Dejah Mulipola is eighth with 10 home runs. Arizona is the only team in the Pac-12 and one of four teams nationally (Campbell, Fordham, Eastern Kentucky) that has three players with 10-or-more home runs.
• The Wildcats are averaging 1.65 home runs per game at home this season and 0.96 per game on the road. No one likes hitting at Hillenbrand more than Alyssa Palomino, who's batting .446 with nine home runs in 23 games at home this season. 
• Taylor McQuillin has nine shutouts this season, one off the NCAA lead. 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 1,552 career victories, 13 behind Michigan's Carol Hutchins (1,565).
• The top six Wildcat hitters (by batting average) are all underclassmen, including five sophomores. The sophomore class is hitting .333 with 43 home runs while all other classes are hitting a combined .262 with 16 home runs.

THIS WEEK: No. 10 Arizona (32-13, 8-10 Pac-12) has followed a six-game losing streak with five wins in their next six, including a series win at No. 8 Arizona State last week in Tempe. UA opened the week by defeating New Mexico, 3-1. Now, the Cats will resume conference play, hosting Oregon State for their penultimate Pac-12 series. UA hosts the Beavers Friday (6 p.m.), Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (12 p.m.) at Hillenbrand Stadium.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS: Oregon State (26-19, 7-8 Pac-12) is coming off a 2-2 week in Corvallis; OSU swept a doubleheader with Portland State and dropped a two-game series to No. 2 Oklahoma last week ... The Beavers have wins this year over No. 7 Arizona State and No. 2 Oregon as well as a series victory over No. 16 California ... Hope Brandner leads the Beavers in home runs (9) and RBI (28), she's hitting .302 on the season ... Mariah Mazon (11-11, 2.35 ERA, 112 Ks, 151.2 IP) and Meehra Nelson (13-8, 2.23 ERA, 93 Ks, 106.2 IP) are a solid 1-2 punch in the circle.

ARIZONA vs. OREGON STATE: Arizona is 100-14 (.877) all-time vs. Oregon State, including four straight and 11-of-the-last-12 overall. UA swept Oregon State in Corvallis last season; the Cats won game 1, 6-2, game 2, 7-1, and game 3, 7-4 in eight innings. Arizona's 100 victories vs. Oregon State are its most vs. any opponent. Arizona has won the last four series vs. the Beavers and has never lost a series in Tucson. 

WHO'S HOT?
Alyssa Denham: In her last three appearances, all three complete-game victories, the sophomore has allowed just one earned run (0.37 ERA) on nine total hits (.132 b/avg) with 20 strikeouts in 19 innings. In her biggest victory of her Wildcat career, she allowed one run on two hits to No. 8 Arizona State in game 2 of the series (4/21).
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 eight starts at DP and is getting on base at a .364 clip with her first three career home runs.
Carli Campbell: The freshman has six hits and two RBI in Arizona's last four games. The freshman is leading the team in average in that span (.600).

DENHAM STRIKES OUT A CAREER-HIGH 10 IN WEDNESDAY WIN

• Arizona defeated New Mexico 3-1 on Wednesday in its final midweek game of the season.
• Alyssa Denham struck out a career-high 10 batters in the game. She allowed one unearned run on five hits in the game.
• 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 12-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 1,552-401-2 (.798), trails only Michigan's Carol Hutchins (1,565-498-5, .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 2.12 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 (20-9, 1.83 ERA) has filled that void thus far. She is 19th in the NCAA in victories (20), fifth in shutouts (9) and is 12th with 216 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 13 home runs while her team-high 43 RBI are third in the league. Over half of her RBI have come with two out (22 of 43). Her 22 two-out RBI are double what the next Wildcat has this year (Dejah Mulipola - 11). 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 (178).

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 13 in 40 games this season. She has 11 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 three 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 one off the NCAA lead with nine shutouts and is 19th with 20 victories. The junior, who is 12th nationally with 216 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 (Sept., 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 (15) and is top five in batting average (5th - .392), slugging percentage (2nd - .792) and on-base percentage (5th - .477). Though her average has dipped under .400 for the first time since week 3, she is trying to become the 13th player in school history to hit .400 with double digit home runs in a season. Palomino was named Arizona Athletics' Sophomore Female Student Athlete of the Year.

HOME RUN U

• Arizona has hit 2,070 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 59 home runs this season, or 1.31 per game, second in the country.

BEATING THE BEST: Since 1994, Arizona is above .500 against ranked teams, top-10 teams and top-five competition. UA is 565-261-1 (.690) against ranked competition, 265-173 (.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).