Feb. 16, 2011
Arizona Cumulative Stats 
Complete 2011 Hillenbrand Invitational Schedule
Complete Notes Packet
Hillenbrand Invitational Parking Map
The Games
Arizona (5-1) will play host to the Hillenbrand Invitational and play five games over three days. Hillenbrand will play host to 12 games on the weekend, the full schedule is as follows:
Friday, Feb. 18
Pacific vs. Kennesaw State Noon
Drake vs. Kennesaw State 2 p.m.
Drake vs. Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 4 p.m.
Arizona vs. Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 19
Pacific vs. Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 10 a.m.
Pacific vs. Drake Noon
Arizona vs. Drake 2 p.m.
Arizona vs. Kennesaw State 4 p.m.
Texas A&M C-C vs. Kennesaw State 6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 20
Kennesaw State vs. Drake 9 a.m.
Arizona vs. Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 11 a.m.
Arizona vs. Pacific 1 p.m.
Opponents
The Cats will face Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, Drake, Kennesaw State and Pacific in a three day stretch. The five teams come to Tucson with a combined one loss.
Team Notes
Texas A&M Corpus-Christi: The Islanders (4-1) opened the season by winning the Best Western Marina Grand Invitational. Texas A&M Corpus-Christi run-ruled two opponents while being crowned the champions of its season opening tournament.
Drake: The Bulldogs (4-0) bring a perfect record to Tucson after sweeping the field at the Ramada-UNI Dome Classic. Senior Jenna DeLong was 2-0 on the weekend including a no-hitter against Green Bay and received Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Kennesaw State: The Owls (4-0) swept the Miss Mizuno classic to open the season. Junior Jessica Cross was named Atlantic Sun Conference preseason Player of the Year and sophomore Ashlee Burkett joined her on the all-conference team.
Pacific: The Tigers (2-0) are led by sophomore pitcher Nikki Armagost who dominates in the circle as well as in the batters box. Pacific swept a season-opening doubleheader vs. Saint Mary's.
The Rankings
Arizona is currently ranked No. 4 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and No. 2 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com Top 25. The Cats moved down after being ranked No. 2/1, respectively, in the preseason poll.
Head Coach Mike Candrea
Mike Candrea returns for his 26th year as the coach of the Cats with a career record of 1,236-260-2 (.826). A winner of eight national championships (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007), Candrea-coached Arizona squads have made 21-straight Women's College World Series. In 2010, Candrea became the fastest coach in NCAA Division I softball to earn 1,200 wins. He has led the Wildcats to an NCAA Tournament record of 138-40. Candrea has coached 85 All-Americans in his 25 years.
Last Time Out
Arizona went 5-1 in the Kajikawa Classic last weekend. Kenzie Fowler limited opponents to just two earned runs in five appearances while the offense bombed 11 home runs. Wildcat pitchers struck out 47 batters, 41 of which by Kenzie Fowler lead the Pac-10. Arizona defeated Indiana 4-0 on Thursday night to open the season and improved to 4-0 with comfortable wins against Utah (8-3), Nebraska (6-1), No. 21/19 Texas A&M (6-3) before dropping a run-rule 11-1 loss to No. 9/6 Oklahoma. Arizona responded Sunday with a 14-0, five-inning win over Cal Poly to conclude the weekend. Brittany Lastrapes, Kristen Arriola and Brigette Del Ponte each cracked three home runs on the weekend.
Last Time at the Hillenbrand Invitational
The Hillenbrand Invitational returns this year after a one-year break; the last Hillenbrand Invitational was March 6-8, 2009. The Cats went 5-1, playing doubleheaders against Minnesota, Creighton and Saint Joseph's. Arizona fell to Creighton's ace Tara Oltman in the early game before ripping the Bluejays for 19 runs in the nightcap, winning 19-2.
Catch the Action
For a live, Reality Radio from the box, go to ustream.tv/channel/ua-athletics. Go to arizonawildcats.com for live GameTracker stats, sponsored by Tucson Electric Power.
The Chambers Watch
Stacie Chambers has positioned herself within reach of not only the Arizona all-time home run record but the NCAA record as well. After hitting one homer over the weekend, the senior now needs 18 to claim the Wildcat title and 23 for the NCAA crown. Chambers is the only active player in the country with more than 60 career jacks.
Arizona Career Home Runs
1. Laura Espinoza 85 92-95
Leah Braatz 85 94-98
3. Jenny Dalton 76 93-96
4. Stacie Chambers 68 08-current
NCAA Career Home Runs
1. Stacie Nuveman, UCLA 90 99, 01-03
2. Laura Espinoza, Arizona 85 92-95
Leah Braatz, Arizona 85 94-98
4. Danyele Gomez, La.-Laffayette 83 03-06
5. Kristen Rivera, Washington 79 02-05
*
12. Stacie Chambers 68 08-current
Bad News/Good News
The bad news is Arizona was run ruled by Oklahoma 11-1 at the Kajikawa Classic, Saturday. The good news is, the last time Oklahoma run-ruled Arizona was March 19, 2007. Arizona went on to win the national championship that year.
Strike Three
The strikeout has been Arizona's best friend and worst enemy thus far this season. Kenzie Fowler leads the league in Ks, while Arizona leads the league offensively with the most strikeouts. Fowler recorded 41 strikeouts over the weekend in four victories, easily putting her atop the Pac-10 in that category. Only four conference pitchers have more than 20 Ks and Fowler's closest competition, Oregon's Jessica Moore is eight behind the Wildcat sophomore. On the other side of that coin, Arizona hitters have struck out 46 times, by far the most in the Pac-10, 18 more times than the conference's second-place team in that category, Oregon.
The Long Ball
The Cats hit 11 home runs on the weekend, second most in the Pac-10. Of Arizona's 39 runs scored at the Kajikawa Classic, 20 of them were driven in by homers. All 11 home runs came in the Wildcats' final five games of the tournament. In comparison, Arizona hit six home runs at the Kajikawa Classic last year. UA is second in the Pac-10 behind Washington, which has 17 home runs through just four games.
Batting First
Arizona hitters seem to be at their best when leading off an inning. UA batters are hitting .472 when batting to begin an inning, a full .200 points better than their team average (.272).
Patience at the Plate
Junior Lini Koria walked eight times over the weekend, more than double anyone else on the team and good enough for first in the Pac-10. Arizona has 28 as a team; the Cats walked 320 times last season, an NCAA Record.
Who's Hot?
Kenzie Fowler: Fowler stuck out 41 batters over the weekend while giving up only two earned runs in 26.2 innings pitched.
Brittany Lastrapes: The senior is nine for her last 17 with three home runs and seven RBI. In that stretch she is batting .529 and slugging 1.118.
Brigette Del Ponte: Of Del Ponte's seven hits, five have gone for extra bases. The Peoria, Ariz., native has three home runs and two doubles for a slugging percentage of 1.059 on the season.
Kristen Arriola: The junior is already half way to her 2010 home run total with three through six games. She has hit in the last three games, the longest hit streak on the team.
