CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior Candace Abrams drives the ball during last week's home win against UNLV. Abrams and the No. 1 Wildcats will host No. 7 Washington and No. 2 UCLA this weekend.

No. 7 Huskies, No. 2 Bruins hit Hillenbrand

Softball titans collide this weekend as top-ranked Arizona seeks payback when it hosts Washington and rival UCLA.

The Wildcats (36-1) host the No. 7 Huskies (24-7), the only NCAA team to beat them, tonight at 7. Tomorrow and Sunday's matchups will be between the winners of 13 of the last 16 national championships when the No. 2 Bruins (27-1) come to town. Those games are at 7 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

The Sunday game is on the new network College Sports Television. It will be the start of the station's live softball coverage this year. CSTV is on DirecTV channel 610 in Tucson.

"Anytime you play UCLA and Washington the same weekend, someone could have a big advantage going into the conference season," UA acting head coach Larry Ray said. "If we sweep all three games, that puts us in the driver's seat, or vice versa for them.

"So it's a big series, not only because it is (within the) conference, but because they are two highly ranked teams. And I think if we were to win, I think people would look at us seriously as a national contender."

Both teams face No. 24 ASU (30-14) this weekend, as well.

The weekend also marks the start of Pac-10 play for Arizona, which went 34-0 against non-league rivals. The Conference of Champions boasts the top three teams in the rankings. All eight teams are ranked in one poll, and five teams are in the top 10 in the other.

Ray said it is "as good a time as any" to play the toughest series of the Pac-10, adding there are no easy weeks in league play.

"We're just looking to work hard, play our game and hopefully come out with some wins," third baseman Jackie Coburn said. "It's going to be a really good weekend for us. Last weekend was a test with the Olympic team, and finishing that weekend, we did really well. We just have to play hard and see what happens."

Washington ended the UA's school-record 34 game win streak last month, winning 7-6 in the Kia Klassic title game. Arizona's ace pitcher, sophomore Alicia Hollowell (23-0, 0.52 ERA), wasn't in the circle for that game.

Ray downplayed the revenge theme for the Husky game.

"I don't think it's so much revenge," Ray said. "I don't think we played an outstanding game before. ... We're just trying to do a little better job against them this time."

Hollowell has only allowed one run in her last 28 2/3 innings and none in the last 21 1/3. Ray said Hollowell will likely start today and tomorrow, but won't play Sunday unless it's necessary.

The last time the UA played the Huskies and Bruins in games that counted, Hollowell won a Friday night game in Seattle, followed by a pair the next two days in Los Angeles Hollowell was 9-0 last season when starting all three games in a Pac-10 weekend set.

The Bruins come to town with two aces: senior Keira Goerl (15-0, 0.39 ERA) and freshman Lisa Dodd (11-1, 0.48). Goerl has 120 strikeouts to lead UCLA, while Hollowell has 302 - 14.2 per seven innings - the fourth best in UA history and 92 short of her record last year.

As usual, the Wildcats and Bruins are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. In fact, the UA and UCLA are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association all-time rankings, compiled from polls since 1995.

"I think it is a good, healthy (rivalry), with mutual respect - not only from the coaching staff, but I think the players, too," Ray said. "We recruited most of the players on their team and vice versa. Both teams had an opportunity to go to one and another's schools, and they made their decisions and it's always a fierce rivalry, but I think it is a respectful one."

Arizona leads the league in team batting and team fielding, and has the top two individual batters: sophomore leftfielder Autumn Champion (.500 batting average) and freshman centerfielder Caitlin Lowe (.482).

Coburn said the two games will be "very intense."

On a poll on nfca.org, fans overwhelmingly said the Wildcats and Bruins will split the two games. On cstv.com, voters picked Arizona to take back the title from defending national champion UCLA.

- Amanda Branam contributed to this report.