Friday, February 14
Tucson, Ariz.
2:00 PM
University of Arizona
vs
Long Beach State
2020 Hillenbrand Invitational
02/12/2020 | Softball
 #4 ARIZONA (9-1) |
 BRYANT (0-4) |
 LONG BEACH STATE (5-5) |
 NORTHERN IOWA (4-7) |
 #2 OKLAHOMA (8-1) |
| Roster | Roster | Roster | Roster | Roster |
| Schedule | Schedule | Schedule | Schedule | Schedule |
| Stats | Stats | Stats | Stats | Stats |
| Notes | Notes | Notes | Notes | Notes |
THE GAMES
| DATE | TIME (MST) | MATCHUP/RESULT | LINKS |
| Friday, Feb. 14 | Long Beach State 10, Bryant 0 | Box Score | |
| Friday, Feb. 14 | Oklahoma 8, Bryant 3 | Box Score | |
| Friday, Feb. 14 | Arizona 2, Long Beach State 1 | Recap • Box Score | |
| Friday, Feb. 14 | Arizona 7, Northern Iowa 6 (5 inn.) | Recap • Box Score | |
| Friday, Feb. 14 | Oklahoma 10, Northern Iowa 2 (6 inn.) | Box Score | |
| Saturday, Feb. 15 | Northern Iowa 13, Bryant 5 (5 inn.) | Box Score | |
| Saturday, Feb. 15 | Arizona 3, Bryant 1 | Recap • Box Score | |
| Saturday, Feb. 15 | Long Beach State 5, Oklahoma 4 | Box Score | |
| Saturday, Feb. 15 | Oklahoma 6, Arizona 4 (10 inn.) | Recap • Box Score | |
| Saturday, Feb. 15 | Long Beach State 8, Northern Iowa 7 | Box Score | |
| Sunday, Feb. 16 | Oklahoma 8, Northern Iowa 0 (5 inn.) | Box Score | |
| Sunday, Feb. 16 | Arizona 6, Long Beach State 0 | Recap • Box Score |
WEEKLY NOTES
LEADING OFF
- The fourth-ranked Wildcats are set for their home-opening weekend in year 2 for the renovated Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium, with the annual Hillenbrand Invitational this weekend.
- Arizona went 5-0 with three run-rule wins last week in the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona. The Cats mercied #12 Tennessee, Kansas and Western Michigan in addition to seven-inning wins over Seattle University and Western Michigan.
- UA hit 10 home runs in the Kajikawa Classic, fourth most in the NCAA after week 1. Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza is one off the NCAA lead with three homers.
- Arizona has the NCAA's two active career home runs leaders; Jessie Haper leads the way with 68 while Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza is second with 57.
- The Wildcats also have the current NCAA leader in career winning percentage. Mariah Lopez has a career record of 54-2 (.964). She needs 19 more decisions to qualify for the NCAA record, held by Arizona's Nancy Evans (120-8, .938).
- The Wildcats are ranked No. 4 in this week's NFCA Top 25, their highest ranking since week 12 of 2017 (#3).
- It's home-opening weekend for fourth-ranked Arizona Softball (5-0), which is set to host the annual Hillenbrand Invitational this weekend. The Wildcats welcome Bryant (0-0), Long Beach State (2-3), #2 Oklahoma (4-0) and Northern Iowa (3-3) for the three-day, 12-game event.
- The tournament will kick off year 2 of the renovated Hillenbrand Stadium. Last season, UA finished first in the Pac-12 and second nationally in average attendance (2,572). The Wildcats sold out their final 14 weekend games of the season last year.
- The Hillenbrand Invitational opens up UA's 31-game home schedule in 2020. The Wildcats went 26-7 at home last season and are 747-100 all-time at Hillenbrand Stadium.
- Arizona will play five games over three days this weekend. UA opens up vs. Long Beach State (2 p.m.) and Northern Iowa (4:30 p.m.) on Friday before facing Bryant (11:30 a.m.) and Oklahoma (4:30 p.m.) on Saturday. The Cats then wrap up the weekend with a second game vs. Long Beach State on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. MST.
- Arizona is hosting the Hillenbrand Invitational for the 24th time in school history and holds a 115-5 all-time record in the event. The Wildcats went 3-2 in last year's rain-shortened event; Arizona defeated Illinois-Chicago, New Mexico and Cal State Fullerton in the 2019 Hillenbrand Invitational, and lost to #7 Alabama and South Florida.
- Live Coverage
- T.V.: N/A
- Live Stream: All of Arizona's games will be streamed for free at arizonawildcats.com/SBLIVE. The seven non-Arizona games will be streamed by FloSoftball for a fee.
- Live Stats: Live stats for all games this weekend will be available at arizonastats.com.
- Tickets: Tickets for this weekend's games and all 31 home games this 2020 season are available at arizonawildcats.com/SB.
- Parking
- Friday: $5 parking will be available on the Center Mall and in Cherry Garage. Campus lots and meters will be free beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday.
- Saturday & Sunday: Parking in Cherry Garage and campus lots/meters will be free on the weekends. Center mall parking will be available for $5.
RANKINGS
NFCA: #4 • USA Softball: #4 • D1 Softball: #3
- Arizona is ranked No. 4 in this week's NFCA Top 25, its highest ranking since it was No. 3 on April 25, 2017.
- Preseason: Arizona began the season ranked fifth in the country by the NFCA, its highest preseason ranking since 2011 (#2). The No. 5 ranking matched UA's final ranking from 2019.
- The Wildcats are currently 1-0 this season vs. ranked opponents after defeating No. 12 Tennessee, 8-0 in five innings.
- The Cats' schedule is again among the toughest in the nation. UA is scheduled to play five of the other nine top-10 teams in the country and nine total ranked teams.
- ESPN Top 25 Players: Arizona placed three players on ESPN's Preseason Top 25 Players, tied for the most in the NCAA.
- #3 Jessie Harper
- #16 Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza
- #23 Reyna Carranco
- USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List: Three Wildcats -- Jessie Harper, Mariah Lopez and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza -- were named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List. Arizona's three players are tied for the second most nationally and mark the third straight year the Wildcats have had at least three players on the list.
- Softball America: Three Wildcats appeared on both Softball America's Preseason All-Americans as well as its Preseason Top 100 Players.
- #6 Alyssa Palomino Cardoza (First-Team)
- #10 Jessie Harper (Second-Team)
- #24 Reyna Carranco (First-Team)
- D1 Softball: Reyna Carranco and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza were named first-team Preseason All-Americans while Jessie Harper was named to the second team.
- Justin's World of Softball: All six of Arizona's seniors found themselves on the JWOS Top 150 Players in the country.
- #4 Jessie Harper
- #12 Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza
- #31 Reyna Carranco
- #53 Mariah Lopez
- #68 Malia Martinez
- #138 Alyssa Denham
SENIOR SALUTE
- Arizona will be led by its stellar senior class in 2020: Reyna Carranco, Alyssa Denham, Jessie Harper, Mariah Lopez, Malia Martinez and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza.
- The Wildcat senior class has won 148 games with a .791 winning percentage in their careers.
- Offensively, the four position-playing seniors have hit a combined .344 in their careers with 152 home runs and 533 RBI.
- In the circle, both Denham (Louisiana-Lafayette) and Lopez (Oklahoma) started their careers elsewhere but are set for their grand finales in the cardinal and navy. In their careers, they have combined to go 95-13 with a 1.81 ERA and 649 strikeouts.
- In week 1, all six stood out for the Wildcats.
- Reyna Carranco: Led the team with a .533 average
- Alyssa Denham: Went 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA; threw a shutout vs. No. 12 Tennessee
- Jessie Harper: Hit .462 with two homers and six RBI
- Mariah Lopez: Went 3-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 20 Ks
- Malia Martinez: Hit .500 with a Pac-12-most four doubles
- Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza: Led the team with home runs (3) and RBI (11)
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.
- In 2019, Candrea became the fastest coach in NCAA history, in any sport, in any division, to record 1,600 career wins.
- Candrea trails only Michigan's Carol Hutchins in NCAA softball history. Candrea's victories have occurred over 33 years of coaching at Arizona (his record does not include UA's 2004 and 2008 records when he was coaching the Olympic team) while Hutchins is in her 37th year (including a season in NCAA Division II).
Players Mentioned
2B
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SS
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3B
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OF
/ SoftballTuesday, April 28
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