By
Brett Erickson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
No. 2 Wildcats get break from Pac-10 games against No. 15 Bulldogs
The second-ranked Arizona softball team will get its last taste of non-conference play tonight when they take on No. 15 Fresno State in a doubleheader.
Coming off a draining two-game sweep of Arizona State, the Wildcats (41-4 overall, 5-2 Pacific 10 Conference) are looking to rediscover their offense swagger after struggling since conference play opened three weeks ago.
Arizona leads the nation in hitting at .355, but has posted a .198 mark since conference games began. Part of the dip in production can be attributed to players going through mental mid-season struggles, but teams in the Pac-10 also have many of the nation's superior pitchers.
"It's tougher - you're not going to get fatties down the middle of the plate," UA head coach Mike Candrea said.
Against the Bulldogs (31-15, 6-3 Western Athletic Conference), Arizona is facing a team that also knows a thing or two about pitching.
FSU enters tonight's games at Hillenbrand Stadium with a 1.00 team ERA, and have posted wins against No. 3 Stanford (1-0) and No. 9 DePaul (2-1).
Facing a non-conference team might be just what the Wildcats need before a critical three-game series this weekend. Arizona hosts Stanford Friday and No. 4 California Saturday and Sunday.
Friday night's game against the Cardinal is for the top spot in the conference.
Arizona's pitching has remained steady in Pac-10 play, tossing three shutouts and limiting the opposition to eight runs in seven games.
It's been the missing offense that has Candrea slightly worried.
"We need to get some quality at-bats," he said. "Maybe with a doubleheader with Fresno we'll get some good at-bats going into the Stanford-Cal series."
Perhaps the most telling statistic from tonight's games is each team's ability to hit the long ball. Arizona has hit 91 home runs, which is only nine shy of the NCAA record of 100 set by the 1995 Wildcats.
Senior Toni Mascarenas (16), and freshmen Leneah Manuma (14) and Mackenzie Vandergeest (14) lead the way, and five other UA players have at least seven homers.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have hit just three home runs through their first 46 games.
Fresno State does have a bit of history on its side, as the Bulldogs defeated Arizona 1-0 in the title game of the 1998 College World Series.
First pitch is tonight at 6, with the second game scheduled for 8 p.m.
Quick Hits . . . Manuma was hit by an opposing pitcher for a team-leading ninth time Friday night against the Sun Devils. She was plunked after Mascarenas singled to open the 11th inning, and junior Jennie Finch followed with a game-ending three-run homer . . . Senior Becky Lemke (13-2) needs three wins to become the fourth pitcher in school history to amass 100 career victories . . . The Wildcats have a 32-game home winning streak. The longest streak was 45 games from May 3, 1996 to March 6, 1998.
