KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat A California base runner heads toward second base as UA senior second baseman Lisha Ribellia fields a groundball during the Wildcats' 1-0 win Sunday over the Golden Bears. Arizona swept defending national champion Cal at home last weekend, winning 7-5 Saturday as well.

Softball takes on rival ASU for state bragging rights

At the beginning of the season, all eyes were on softball newcomer Alicia Hollowell.

The freshman, who was thrown into the mix as the top pitcher in UA's rotation, has proved she's worthy of such a job, as she's already surpassed former UA pitcher Jennie Finch's freshman record (24-8) by compiling a mark record and a 0.66 ERA of her own.

With 25 victories, she's already tied the freshman school record set by former UA pitcher Becky Lemke in 1998, and has tied the shutout record in one season's work with 22.

All eyes will be on Hollowell once again this weekend as the freshman attempts to move further up the charts in a showdown against Pacific-10 conference in-state rival No. 12 ASU.

Even though they're the No. 1 team in the nation, the Wildcats prepare for each game like it's their last.

"We can't do a great job one weekend on the road and then come home and give it up," head coach Mike Candrea said. "Anything can happen any day so you need to be mentally tough."

The Wildcats hold a slight edge with an 80-72 mark against the Sun Devils in the all time series between the two Pac-10 enemies.

The Sun Devils (28-13, 5-4) are the No. 3 team in the Pac-10 race, trailing Washington (37-5, 6-3).

Hollowell isn't the only Wildcat playing exceptional softball. She and senior shortstop Lovie Jung have been recognized by the Amateur Softball Association as two of 25 finalists for the 2003 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

On April 29, the list will be narrowed down to 10 players, with the winner being announced at the opening ceremonies of the College World Series on May 21.

Arizona (39-4, 8-1) experienced a reality check last weekend, though, as the virtually unbeatable team was handed its first Pac-10 loss of the year by No. 16 Stanford on Friday.

The Cardinal defeated the Wildcats, 4-3, despite a homerun blasted by Jung.

Arizona bounced back and picked up a pair of wins over defending champion California, a team that defeated them 6-0 in last year's College World Series title game.

Hollowell pitched in Saturday's 7-5 win over the Golden Bears, and was helped out offensively by a grand slam from third baseman Jackie Coburn.

Junior pitcher Wendy Allen picked up the win, and a sigh of relief, in Sunday's 1-0 win over Cal.

Allen was relieved offensively by outfielder Crystal Farley, who drove in the game's sole run in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the Golden Bears home with a two-game series loss.

While it's been predominantly Hollowell who's been seeing the majority of the pitching time, Allen öö who is continually battling a cyst in her left pitching wrist öö picked up a win, while giving the freshman pitching ace a chance to breathe.

"I'm just here to give Alicia rest," Allen said. "It hurts to snap my wrist and I get a tingling sensation. But the adrenaline takes over."

Prior to Sunday's game, where the Wildcats barely slipped by Cal, Candrea sought inspiration by putting up a quote on the chalkboard in the UA dugout.

"The most important element to success is to sell yourself to yourself," Candrea said.

After a shaky weekend, the Wildcats will attempt to pick up a pair of wins at home against their intra-state rivals before they head to Phoenix in their final match-up against the Sun Devils on Wednesday.

Both games this weekend are scheduled for 7 p.m., beginning tonight at UA's Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium.