By
Brett Erickson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Arizona gets early test with 5 games in 3 days
The Arizona softball team has a slew of potential roadblocks on its schedule this season. Among the hurdles are three games against No. 1 UCLA, a mid-season matchup with defending national champion and second-ranked Oklahoma, and three games against No. 4 Washington.
Throw in 21 more contests against other top-25 teams, and third-ranked Arizona will have plenty of opportunity to test itself before the College World Series in May.
Before the Wildcats can worry about the meat of their schedule, though, they will have to contend with five unranked teams that would love to score an early-season upset against the Wildcats.
Arizona opens its season at noon today against Florida Atlantic at the Louisville Tournament in Tampa, Fla. The Wildcats also play Tennessee this afternoon, Northwestern and South Florida tomorrow and Hawaii Sunday morning before returning to Tucson.
Head coach Mike Candrea said this is the first time he can recall opening the season away from Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium. Having a veteran roster that includes eight returning starters made the decision a lot easier, he said.
"If I was going to do it, I wanted to do it with a group of experienced kids," Candrea said. "I think it will be a good gut check to begin the season."
Florida Atlantic is relatively new to the collegiate softball scene. FAU's program began six years ago, but the Lady Owls have become a rising power in the NCAA. The Owls (57-17 last season) have won the Trans America Athletic Conference four consecutive years, but failed to advance past their regional tournament to the CWS each time.
Even though Arizona's other opponents this weekend didn't match the Owls' success last year, Candrea is not taking Tennessee (29-34), Northwestern (30-26), South Florida (41-31) or Hawaii (25-24) lightly.
"We're going to have to go out and play good people," he said. "We probably play the toughest schedule in the country ... or one of the top two."
Senior outfielder Erika Hanson said the team is ready to open the season after months of intersquad practices.
"We're all antsy and on our toes - we can't wait to play a game," she said.
