By
Brett Erickson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
No. 2 softball team faces Utah tonight, tomorrow in first games since initial losses of the season
Going undefeated through a softball season of more than 65 games is a feat that no NCAA team has accomplished.
Now that this year's Arizona softball team has realized that it, too, will fall short in accomplishing this, the No. 2 Wildcats are focusing on improving on a game-by-game basis.
After falling 2-1 to Texas Saturday at the Kia Klassic in Fullerton, Calif., the Wildcats (34-2) get their first chance to put the defeat behind them tonight against Utah (18-13). Both tonight and tomorrow night's games begin at 7 at the Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium.
"I think we're prepared to get going again," freshman catcher Candace Abrams said. "We realize what we did, and now we want to get back into it."
Against the Longhorns, Arizona managed seven hits to Texas' two but couldn't capitalize in situations with runners in scoring positions. The Wildcats had runners on second or third in six of the seven innings, but managed only one run - a solo homer by freshman pitcher Jenny Gladding in the top of the seventh inning.
The loss, which knocked Arizona out of the tournament, was the Wildcats' second in three days. Louisiana-Lafayette beat Arizona 4-3 on March 15 in a game that gave the Wildcats a wake-up call.
"It was pretty tough. We realize that we shouldn't have lost, we should have come out with more intensity," Abrams said.
The Utes enter tonight's game riding the blistering bat of third baseman Lyndsey Trevis. The junior from Glendora, Calif., was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for the second consecutive time Wednesday after leading her team to a 4-2 record at the Florida State Tournament.
This season, Trevis is hitting .412 with six home runs and 32 RBI.
After facing Utah this weekend, the Wildcats will face Central Arizona Monday in their last non-conference game for nearly three weeks. Even with the tough Pacific 10 Conference schedule - seven teams ranked in the top 15 - approaching next weekend, the Wildcats aren't looking ahead.
"We've got to realize that we can't take anybody for granted; you have to respect anybody that you play," Abrams said. "We're going to go out there and play to win."
