JON HELGASON/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona senior pitcher Jennie Finch winds up for a pitch last month at home against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Wildcats face Washington today and No. 2 UCLA tomorrow and Sunday at Hillenbrand Stadium.

No. 1 Arizona faces No. 2 UCLA this weekend

In college basketball there's North Carolina vs. Duke. In College football, it's Miami vs. Florida State. In college softball, it's Arizona vs. UCLA.

Those matchups are as big as it gets in collegiate athletics.

This weekend, the Wildcat softball team will host UCLA in a showdown of No. 1 vs. No. 2.

UA opens its first home weekend of Pacific 10 Conference play when it hosts No. 12 Washington (30-9 overall, 1-1 Pac-10) tonight at 7, followed by a two-game set with top-ranked UCLA (33-4, 1-1) tomorrow at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The contests against the Bruins will be the first time the nation's two elite programs have met since UA's 1-0 victory in last year's NCAA championship game. Tomorrow's game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

After sweeping a two-game series at No. 6 Arizona State to open its rigorous Pac-10 schedule last weekend, No. 2 Arizona (33-4, 2-0) will put its 68-game Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium winning streak to the test against the conference's best.

UA head coach Mike Candrea said his team gained some momentum from its victories in Tempe last week and another focused effort will be crucial this weekend.

"Preparation is the key for us right now," Candrea said. "I feel very good about our team. Hopefully, we can go out there this weekend and have some fun."

Tonight, UA will face a Husky team that is coming off a two-game series split with the Bruins and boasts an offense that has launched 35 home runs, second in the Pac-10.

Arizona tops the nation in that category with 67 - led by sophomore first baseman Leneah Manuma's 17 long balls - and is on pace to break its NCAA record of 126 set just last season.

When play begins against UCLA, Arizona will find itself matched up against perhaps the only 1-2 pitching combination that has been as dominant as its own.

The Bruins version of Jennie Finch and Jenny Gladding comes in the arms of sophomore Keira Goerl and senior Amanda Freed, who have combined for 31 victories with an ERA of just 0.47.

While Finch brings her own NCAA-record 59-game winning streak into play - including 19-0 this year - runs may be hard to come by throughout the weekend.

"We're obviously playing two high-quality opponents again," Candrea said. "We just need to come out and do the little things that it takes to win."

For the 10 players on the Arizona roster that played high school softball in California, the weekend will renew some familiar battles with a group of familiar opponents, perhaps none more so than Manuma, whose cousin plays third base for the Bruins.

"It's been cool; we've always played against each other," said Manuma, who added that her cousin was quite shocked when she told her she was passing on UCLA to attend Arizona. "It's always something that's been fun for us, but after the games, we're totally fine."

The All-American said that this weekend is just another big step that the Wildcats need to take if they want to contend for their seventh Pac-10 crown in school history.

"Any weekend in the Pac-10 is always big," Manuma said. "Washington has been playing well and they're a strong team, so we're in for a fight all weekend. It's going to be a great weekend for us."

The highly anticipated weekend will also pay tribute to one of the best Wildcats of all time. Assistant coach Nancy Evans, who played for Candrea from 1995-1998, will have her jersey retired on the outfield wall by the University of Arizona Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Arizona softball program prior to Sunday's contest. Evans, who earned the Honda Softball Award for the National Player of the Year in 1998, will also throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

"It's such a great honor, I'm kind of speechless," Evans said. "I'm just really excited about the honor, to see your number on the outfield wall - it's just great to be a part of the Arizona legacy."

While starring at Arizona, Evans received first-team All-American honors for two consecutive years, academic All-American honors, All-College World Series Most Valuable Player and was part of three national championship teams. She finished her career with a record of 124-8 - the most wins in UA history, No. 3 on the NCAA chart and the best winning percentage in NCAA history.

A veteran to all of the intense rivalries within the Pac-10, Evans doesn't want her squad to get too caught up in the name or rankings game this weekend.

"(I want them) to not worry so much about UCLA - that can only create problems in their own minds," Evans said. "They just need to go out and play to the best of their abilities and good things will happen. It doesn't matter who they're playing against."