The Wildcat softball team takes the field starting today when it hosts the Arizona Fall Classic at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium. The exhibition tournament is the team's first action since losing to California in the NCAA Championship game last spring.

Arizona starts the series off with back-to-back games today, at noon against New Mexico Highlands, and at 2 p.m. against Arizona Western. Tomorrow, Arizona squares off against New Mexico at 5 p.m. and Central Arizona at 7 p.m. In the final day, UA takes on Cypress Community College at 3 p.m. and Pima Community College at 5 p.m.

The fall exhibition games come on the heels of a 55-12 record last season, including a 15-6 record in Pacific 10 Conference action. The team also recorded its second trip to the championship game in as many years, after winning the NCAA title in 2001.

Leading the Wildcats back into action this season will be junior Laneah Manuma at first base and senior Lovieanne Jung at shortstop, both team catalysts last season.

Manuma had a monster season last spring, batting .310 with 21 home runs and 70 RBI, earning her first-team All-America honors in the process. Jung carried a .364 batting average with 16 home runs, in her first season playing for the Wildcats after redshirting the previous season as a transfer from Fresno State.

Jung looks forward to this weekend's action, seeing it as a great opportunity for new players to earn some game experience.

"We have a lot of new players to get used to," Jung said. "Just from two weeks of practice, we have already meshed together quickly as a team, and hope to get even closer this weekend. (Returning players) expect a lot out of our new pitchers, and we know that they have high expectations of themselves as well."

The team came into the fall practice season two weeks ago in unfamiliar territory: with uncertainty in the pitcher's circle. With the graduation of two-time Honda Player of the Year Award winner Jennie Finch and the transfer of junior Jenny Gladding, the Wildcats have no pitchers on staff with game experience, aside from pitcher Wendy Allen, who transferred to Arizona from Ohio State this fall. Allen must sit out this season, using up her redshirt year, under NCAA transfer rules.

Along with Allen, the incoming corps of pitchers include freshmen Shelly Schultz and Leslie Wolfe, both hailing from the Phoenix area, and freshman Alicia Hollowell, of Suisan, Calif.

"We are going to give all the new pitchers some innings this weekend, to try and get a true feeling of where we're at," head coach Mike Candrea said. "This will be the first time putting on Arizona uniforms for some of these girls, and I have to suspect it's like taking the first test in a new class. They don't know what to expect until they step out there."