Traveling to the USF-Louisville Slugger Tournament in Tampa, Fla. was supposed to show how productive the 2003 Arizona softball (5-0) team could be over the course of the season.

And they're off.

Scoring 23 runs to their opponents' one, the No. 2 Wildcats held a tight grip over the three-day tournament.

Next Game · Arizona's next action is Feb. 7 ÷ 9 in Phoenix when they travel to the Fiesta Bowl Tournament hosted by ASU

Yesterday, Arizona completed the undefeated weekend by beating Northwestern 6-0.

Freshman Alicia Hollowell was in the circle and struck out 12 batters while only allowing two hits.

Arizona opened the scoring in the fourth inning when freshman Autumn Champion came home after being moved around the bases by sophomore Courtney Fossatti's sacrifice bunt and a groundout by senior Lovie Jung.

In the fifth, junior and Ohio State transfer Wendy Allen hit a lead-off homer over the right field fence.

Sophomore Jackie Coburn and senior Lisha Ribellia added an RBI each in the sixth inning.

On Saturday, UA faced Auburn and South Florida, with Hollowell pitching against the Tigers and Allen throwing versus the Bulls.

Junior Mackenzie Vandergeest hit a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the first to give the Wildcats a permanent lead.

Champion sent two runs home with a single in the fifth when both Ribellia and sophomore Crystal Farley reached base on errors. Champion would score from a sacrifice fly hit by Vandergeest.

In the 6-0 win, Hollowell carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before allowing one hit, and finished the game with eight strikeouts.

South Florida was the only team to take a lead on the Wildcats for the weekend, but UA battled back to win 3-1.

In the bottom of the first the Bulls took a 1-0 lead that would last until the top of the fourth when Jung had a two RBI single that scored Champion and Farley. Allen would help herself by scoring in the same inning when Ribellia sent a single into right field.

Allen tossed six innings, striking out six and giving up four hits.

On Friday, Allen threw a shutout and struck out six against Sam Houston State as the Wildcats cruised to a 6-0 victory.

Arizona put two on the scoreboard in the third inning when Jung hit a homer with Champion on base. In the fourth, Vandergeest hit a grand slam, putting the game away for good. Vandergeest hit three grand slams last year.

Over the weekend, Hollowell pitched 20 innings with 31 strikeouts while giving up only five hits and one walk to the opposition. The Wildcats totaled five HRs and 22 RBIs in the five contests.

Arizona's next action is Feb. 7 ÷ 9 in Phoenix when they travel to the Fiesta Bowl Tournament hosted by ASU.