RANDY METCALF/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona junior shortstop Lovie Jung has made an immediate impact, after transferring from Fresno State, in her first season of competition for the defending national champion UA softball team.

Jung brings more All-American talent to Wildcats

Like every softball player who has come to the desert to play for head coach Mike Candrea's storied program, junior Lovie Jung arrived with one goal in mind: to win a national championship.

It just took the All-American shortstop a little longer to get here.

After her senior year of high school in 1998, the highly recruited member of the 1999 USA Junior World Team opted to stay in her home state and play for then-defending national champion Fresno State.

Following two successful seasons with the Bulldogs, Jung decided for personal reasons that she needed a change of scenery.

And when you're an All-American softball player, there usually is no grass greener than that of Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium.

After watching her teammates win a national championship as a redshirt a year ago, Jung is doing her part to make sure that she gets the chance to play for one - or two - titles as well.

She learned a lot from patiently watching one of Arizona's all-time great teams last year, and Jung said the experience played a large role in her transition into a star on this season's Wildcats.

"It's been really awesome because last year, I got to watch them play great softball all year long," Jung said. "I got to be a part of it - I just wasn't there during their celebration and stuff."

The junior shortstop has done everything in her first season for Candrea's Wildcats to ensure there may be more celebrating in 2002.

While hitting atop the Arizona lineup - a rarity for right-handed hitters during Candrea's 17-year tenure - Jung has been the Wildcats' offensive catalyst and a model of consistency for the entire team, especially its eight freshmen.

The two-time All-American leads UA with a .421 average, 50 runs scored and eight doubles. Her 53 hits and 32 walks - both team highs - translate into a mammoth on-base percentage of .540.

"Being the only right-handed hitter that I can remember leading off for us basically since Mike got here, she's done a tremendous job," assistant coach Larry Ray said. "We actually looked at putting another lefty there and moving (Lovie) back to the No. 2 or 3 spot, but she's just the ultimate leadoff hitter.

"She goes deep into the count and has got some pop - sometimes she'll start the ballgame off with a dinger - and that's a big plus for us."

Yet with rather deceiving power, the Westminster, Calif., native is becoming better known in Tucson for her late-inning blasts with Pacific 10 Conference games on the line.

In three of Arizona's first four conference victories, the contact hitter showed her versatility at the plate by delivering a game-winning home run - including a walk-off shot against then-No.1 ranked UCLA two weekends ago.

And apparently, Jung was only getting started.

Last Saturday, she delivered another late-inning homer to break open a scoreless game at Oregon.

The 13 home runs are good for second on the Wildcats - nearly doubling the seven career homers that Jung hit in her two seasons at Fresno State.

"Hitting (home runs) is a little different," Jung admitted. "My goal as a leadoff hitter is to just get on (base) and have a high on-base percentage, so hitting home runs is just an extra bonus."

So far for the Wildcats coaching staff, the addition of Jung has been just what a very young roster needed after graduating eight seniors, five of whom earned All-American honors during their tenure.

"She's an experienced player who brings a lot of talent to the table," said Candrea, who added with a smile that Lovie's game-winning heroics in the first two weeks of conference play were "pretty nice."

"She's brought great leadership, and so far, she's just done an all-around tremendous job and been a positive leader for the young kids," Candrea said.

While on a torrid offensive pace all season long, Jung has steadily made adjustments on the defensive end of her game to help anchor an infield that has made immense strides since the season's opening weeks.

"Earlier in the year, she was a little tentative and letting balls play her," Ray said. "But now, she's attacking the ball a little bit more, and I can't remember her making an error over the last half of the season."

With the Pac-10 schedule heating up, Jung has emerged as a leading force on the nation's top-ranked team. All of a sudden, her collegiate softball aspirations that led her to Arizona do not seem so far away.

"I don't really have any personal goals, just to contribute to the team," Jung stated modestly. "As a team goes, it's to get to the World Series and win a championship."

If history is any indication, she came to the right place.