After rolling through its schedule unscathed, it ended up taking an act of God to give the 21-0 Arizona softball team a loss.
Because of inclement weather, half of the games in the No. 2 Wildcats' Hillenbrand Invitational were lost today, with the UA not playing Northern Iowa. Instead, Arizona plays only North Texas (6-22) at 5 p.m. The weekend schedule is the same, with the Wildcats playing Indiana and No. 24 Georgia Tech (15-3) tomorrow at 3 p.m., followed by UTEP (3-7) Sunday at 1 p.m.
Losing the matchup with the Panthers, though, is hardly a big loss. UNI is 3-6 after losing to teams like Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and beating only Ball State, Youngstown State and University of Louisiana at Monroe.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Weather Channel gave a 20 percent chance of rain for today, with zero percent chance tomorrow and Sunday.
Acting UA head coach Larry Ray said he hopes the Wildcats will play hard, no matter whom they play.
"I'm just hoping they continue playing at the same level," Ray said. "It looks like, with the win-loss records, this field isn't as strong."
The Ramblin' Wreck comes to town as the only other ranked team after an impressive showing at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. The Yellow Jackets beat No. 15 Fresno State and No. 17 Nebraska.
Thanks to Georgia Tech's surprising results, the Atlantic Coast Conference chose Tech senior shortstop Tara Knudson as its co-Player of the Week, along with Florida State's Jessica van der Linden. Knudson hit .346 with nine hits, 10 RBIs and three home runs.
Arizona touts the reigning Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week in sophomore Alicia Hollowell (14-0, 0.71 ERA). The award is her second in a row and the UA's third week earning at least one weekly individual honor. Hollowell gave up six earned runs and struck out 38 over 21 innings, and was one batter away from a perfect game.
Though he is unsure when each pitcher will throw, Ray thinks sophomore Leslie Wolfe (3-0, 1.02 ERA) will get the start today against the Mean Green.
The Lady Eagles are batting .195, while their foes are batting .314. Wolfe's opponent batting average is .225.
Freshman pitcher Katy Maxey (4-15, 3.82 ERA) appears to be UNT's ace, yielding a .301 average.
Ray said he hopes to use the weekend as a chance to use all his players, getting them used to game action should the team need them.
Indiana (5-9) comes to town having lost five of its last six. The Hoosiers' bright spot in the Southern Illinois tournament last weekend came when sophomore pitcher Megan Roark struck out 10 over 14.1 innings, while giving up 11 hits and one earned run.
With a .421 average, senior infielder Karly McCormack is leading the Hoosiers in batting. McCormack is also IU's leader in home runs, hits, RBIs and walks.
UTEP, along with Texas State, is a first-year program and has had a rough inaugural season, having lost four in a row and eight of its last nine. The Miners' wins are against Sul Ross State and Louisiana Monroe.
UTEP lost 5-0 and 10-1 to New Mexico, which the UA has beaten 8-0, 12-0 and 11-5 this season.
Other games in this weekend's tournament include Georgia Tech versus UTEP at 1 p.m. and Indiana versus Northern Iowa afterward. Tomorrow has NIU and the Miners facing off at 9 a.m., followed by the Mean Green versus UTEP and the Lady Eagles versus the Hoosiers. The Panthers and Yellow Jackets follow the UA game.
On Sunday, Georgia Tech takes on Indiana at 9 a.m., followed by North Texas and NIU.