The No. 1 UA softball team takes its undefeated Pac-10 record on the road for the second weekend in a row against the Oregon schools, a pair of opponents that has been unintimidated by highly ranked teams this year.
Today at 2 p.m., the Wildcats (43-1, 7-0 Pacific 10 Conference) face No. 16 Oregon State (36-15, 2-7), which has already knocked off a No. 1 this season. On March 14, the Beavers beat then-No. 1 UCLA 3-2, causing the Bruins (29-6, 2-5) to fall to No. 2 while the UA took over the nation's top spot. The Wildcats have been there ever since.
"OSU swings a pretty good bat. They probably gave the (USA) Olympic team the biggest scare they had on their tour," acting head coach Larry Ray said.
The Beavers hit back-to-back home runs against Team USA to tie the game at 2-2 but lost 4-2.
Ray said he expects to start sophomore pitcher Alicia Hollowell for today's game but is unsure whether he will use her for the remainder of the weekend. Hollowell pitched all three games last weekend in a sweep of the Bay area schools.
OSU is sixth in the conference after dropping three games last weekend: one to No. 3 UCLA and a pair to No. 6 Washington, all on the road.
Tomorrow and Sunday, the Wildcats take on No. 12 Oregon (32-11, 6-3). The Ducks have been one of the surprise teams in the Pac-10 this season and are currently third in the conference.
Oregon beat UCLA 4-3 in Los Angeles Saturday after handing Washington its first Pac-10 loss of the season a day earlier. The Huskies are the only team to beat Arizona this season, but the loss was nonconference because it came at a tournament.
Oregon pitcher Ani Nyhus has been crucial to the Ducks' success. The junior transfer from Central Arizona College is the reigning Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week after her victories over UCLA and Washington on consecutive days. All six of Oregon's conference wins came with Nyhus on the mound, including three against top-five teams.
To prepare the Wildcats for rainy conditions in the Pacific Northwest, Ray said he watered down the field for practice this week.
The Wildcats have already gone through some tough conference competition. They beat UCLA twice and added road victories against Arizona State (30-21, 0-7), No. 8 Stanford (34-11, 5-4) and California (37-8, 4-5).
While Ray said he is happy with his team's success to this point, he knows running the table in the Pac-10 is nearly impossible.
"It is very difficult to go through the conference undefeated; few teams have been able to do it. The biggest part of our season is ahead of us," Ray said.
"Every game from now on, we have to take the same stand. We can't look down on anyone," said freshman catcher/infielder Cortney Nix. "If we keep playing like we've been playing, we'll be fine."