tests in Palm Springs

KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Outfielder Autumn Champion leads off of third base during a game Sunday against CU. Champion is the current Pac 10 Player of the Week.

With a perfect record, five mercy-rule wins, a productive offense and dominant pitching, the Arizona softball team has passed all its tests so far.

But this weekend, the material gets a lot tougher.

The No. 2 Wildcats (11-0) head to California for the Palm Springs Classic, hosted by Oregon State, this weekend. The UA plays Penn State (0-0) and No. 6 Georgia (7-0) today, No. 7 Alabama (8-1) and No. 17 Cal State Fullerton (2-3) tomorrow and Boston College (1-4) Sunday.

"They'll be a good test for us. I think this group is definitely ready for such good competition. They showed that with the quality of the teams they played so far. They were up to the task," said interim co-head coach Larry Ray.

The Nittany Lions haven't even played an exhibition game this season, but were in the NCAA tournament last year, where they were knocked out by top-seeded Cal State Fullerton.

The Bulldogs have a perfect record coming off back-to-back no hitters. Junior Michelle Green (3-0) and freshman Kasi Carroll (0-0) combined to no-hit Appalachian State in a 16-0 win, and freshman Katie Griffin (3-0) had a perfect game in an 8-0 win over Virginia Tech. Because of rainouts, Georgia hasn't played since Feb. 13.

"It will be a pretty big challenge for us," said sophomore pitcher Alicia Hollowell (7-0).

The Crimson Tide lost to Stanford, 4-1, at the Cardinal's tournament, but beat the Cardinal 2-1 later in the tournament. Alabama touts the reigning SEC pitcher of the week, senior Erin Wright (3-0), who has a 0.37 ERA. But the UA has the current Pac-10 Player of the Week, leftfielder Autumn Champion, who is batting .625.

The Wildcats are batting .392 as a team. Ray says Arizona just needs to approach the games one at a time to keep up their success.

"I tell the team, 'All I want is what they got,'" Ray said. "I'm not expecting them to do anymore than they are capable of, but I certainly don't want any less.

"That's kind of what I saw on Sunday. I thought we had some mental lapses defensively and with baserunning, (it's) the first real slippage I've seen from this group, and I made sure to let them not that I wasn't really thrilled with that."

Ray said Hollowell will likely throw against Georgia, and sophomore Leslie Wolfe (2-0) or senior Wendy Allen (2-0) will pitch against the Crimson Tide. Ray said he is confident about having either player in the circle.

"They did very well. They came out with an impressive mindset and were as prepared as they could be and executed their game plan, which resulted in a W," said interim associate head coach Nancy Evans about the pitchers' performances last week.

Arizona beat the Longhorns 7-0, with Hollowell pitching a one-hitter, and Allen shut out the Bobcats 5-0 last weekend.

"I think it will be another good weekend for us," Wolfe said. "I think it will be a good test, a lot of people there. Obviously the USA team will be there, so there will be a lot of people watching to show our stuff."

BC is also familiar with the UA. The Eagles were in Tucson in May for the regional Arizona hosted, but the teams didn't play.

The tournament is played at the "Big League Dream Parks," where outfield facades are designed to look like grand-old-time parks like Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Fenway Park, Forbes Field and Wrigley Field.

Other teams of note in the star-studded tournament are the U.S. Olympic team, No. 1 UCLA, No. 8 Stanford, No. 18 Tennessee and the No. 24 Beavers.