KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA's Autumn Champion tries to catch a fly ball on the run earlier this season at Hillenbrand Stadium.

Jung, Hollowell nominated for Player of Year

Two Wildcats are on the remaining list of 25 hopefuls for the USA Amateur Softball Player of the Year award. Senior Lovie Jung and freshman Alicia Hollowell are on the list that will be cut down to 10 on April 29, and then reduced to three finalists on May 13, before the winner is named at the opening ceremonies of the College World Series.

In her freshman year, Hollowell has a record of 25-2, an ERA of 0.66, 22 shutouts and 250 strikeouts. Hollowell is now sixth all-time for single-season strikeouts.

For comparison, that is one more win then Jennie Finch's freshman year comprised, double the shutouts and 71 more strikeouts. Finch's ERA was 2.08. There are 11 games left on the Wildcats regular-season schedule.

Three 'Cats join Team USA

Both Jung and Hollowell, along with junior catcher Mackenzie Vandergeest, have been invited to the ARCO Olympic Training Center to compete for selection to play internationally for the U.S. this summer. Arizona alumnae Finch (2002), Leah O'Brien-Amico (1997) and Toni Mascarenas (2001) are also venturing to Chula Vista, Calif., for the camp. Jung, Vandergeest, Finch and O'Brien were all members of the team for the 2002-03 season.

Wildcat bats going strong

Arizona (39-4, 8-1) leads the Pacific-10 Conference in homeruns with 57, 21 of which came from Jung's bat, putting her seventh on the single-season record book. Jung is also smashing a team-leading 1.133 slugging percentage, including five grand slams and a team-leading 60 RBIs. Jung has 16 doubles this season, tying her for sixth on the UA single-season list. The shortstop has also been given first base 36 times, only eight more walks then Vandergeest · Freshman Autumn Champion is batting .444 with 67 hits en route to chalking up 19 multi-hit games with an on-base percentage of .469. The Wildcats have scored 269 runs, including 249 RBIs, to their opponents' 44 runs. In addition, at the plate, Arizona has 382 hits, more then two times their opponents' 150 hits. The Wildcats have 61 two-basers and five triples.

From the bullpen...

Behind the plate, Vandergeest has a team leading 342 put-outs. She holds the single-season record with 577 ·

A crowd of 2,471 people saw the 7-5 victory over California at Hillenbrand Saturday. This is the largest attendance this season and the 14th-largest in stadium history ·

Arizona's opponent this weekend, Arizona State, last met the Wildcats in an eight-inning game at the College World Series, where UA clawed its way to a 1-0 victory.