ERIC M. JUKELEVICS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona senior All-American Jennie Finch takes a cut at a low fastball last month against UCLA at Hillenbrand Stadium. The softball team will host both Oregon schools this weekend, beginning this afternoon at 6 against Oregon.

The No. 1 Arizona softball team will look to rebound from its first two-loss series of the season this weekend when it takes on Oregon tonight at 7, before two weekend contests with No. 14 Oregon State.

Arizona (41-7 overall, 8-3 Pac-10) is tied with No. 2 UCLA atop the Pac-10 standings at 8-3, and its ranking may flip-flop with the release of the latest USA/NFCA poll today.

Coming off their first back-to-back losses since April 2000, the Wildcats will need to reassert their dominance in front of the home crowd this weekend, said head coach Mike Candrea.

ãWe put (the losses) way behind us,ä Candrea said. ãObviously, it served as a wake-up call and it was a little slap to their egos, but they have to learn to deal with it.

ãThese are all tough games, and you have to be prepared to play. I told them they were doing a great job throughout (the 6-2 road trip), I just thought I saw a tired team on the field (last) Saturday.ä

The last time the Wildcats took the field at Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium, they saw the end of their school-record 70-game home winning streak during a 6-5 loss to UCLA. If they plan on beginning another streak this weekend, their offense is going to have to return to its pre-road trip form.

Arizona, which averages more than six runs per game, managed just 10 runs over its last five contests. After beginning the season on pace to break its own NCAA record of 126 home runs ÷ set just last season ÷ Arizonaâs rate has slowed considerably, with 13 blasts over 11 Pac-10 contests.

Candrea said having his abundance of freshmen heat up again at the plate ÷ as they have done throughout their rookie seasons ÷ will be key for his club down the stretch.

ãOffensively weâre struggling right now, but itâs nothing that canât be fixed,ä Candrea said. ãWeâve been too selective. We need to be more aggressive at the plate, and we need some of our younger girls to step up.ä

Alyson Von Liechtenstein leads a trio of UA freshman currently hitting over .300, but ÷ despite one monster game from third baseman Jackie Coburn against Oregon (18-21, 0-12) ÷ the group shared some offensive struggles while on the road.

Playing host to a pair of teams that have not fared very well against Arizona in recent years should help any offensive woes.

Both Oregon schools are 2-12 against the Wildcats since 1997, including Arizonaâs three-game sweep in the Northwest two weekends ago.

Candrea said the beginning of a seven-game homestand is the perfect time for his Wildcats to try and move ahead in the Pac-10 race.

ãThis is a big (weekend),ä Candrea said. ãWe definitely need to be playing our best softball right now and take advantage of being at home and continue to get better.ä