CLAIRE C. LAURENCE /Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore pitcher Alicia Hollowell delivers a pitch during a game against UCLA April 4. Hollowell and the rest of the Wildcat softball team will face Arizona State tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Arizona softball sophomore pitcher Alicia Hollowell's middle name is Kay. How appropriate: She is first in Ks for the UA, again.

Hollowell (32-1) and the rest of the Wildcats (45-2, 9-1 Pacific 10 Conference) finally lost a Pac-10 game Sunday, nearly going through the first half of the league's schedule unscathed. The good news: Hollowell reached 400 strikeouts for the season, breaking her own record of 394 set last year.

"It's kind of a pleasant surprise, and hopefully she can add on to that," UA acting head coach Larry Ray said.

Hollowell, who has a 0.75 ERA this year, got the K record last year in 297 innings, four short of the school record. The strikeout mark shattered the previous record of 366 by Jennie Finch in 2002.

"She's an outstanding player and it's nice to see, but the standards that the players have set in the past are there for the players of the future to try and surpass," Ray said.

Hollowell is already fourth on the UA career strikeout list with 794. She set the school record for wins with 40 last year, and with her 72nd win Saturday, passed Teresa Cherry (71) for sixth most in school history.

Stat Cats top the NCAA

Not only do the Wildcats have the best record in the country, they also have some of the best stats.

The No. 1 Wildcats are also No. 1 in team batting average (.341). They are second in scoring, sixth in ERA and 14th in fielding.

Individually, senior utility Wendy Allen is first in the nation in RBIs, while senior catcher Mackenzie Vandergeest is second.

Freshman center fielder Caitlin Lowe is No. 1 in runs, second in stolen bases and eighth in batting average, while Hollowell is first in strikeouts and fourth in wins.

Sophomore left fielder Autumn Champion is fourth in batting average at .471, .003 behind the leader.

ÎNoles roll

Hot on Arizona's heels, No. 2 Florida State won both its games last week and clinched the ACC title.

The Seminoles (50-5, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snuck into second after the Pac-10 teams began beating each other up, beat unranked North Carolina 5-0 and 1-0.

Last week, Arizona received all 20 first place votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll.

Evans trails in NPF poll

UA acting associate head coach Nancy Evans is in second place in a poll on the National Pro Fastpitch Web site, which asks which pitcher will get the most wins in the new professional softball league.

Evans, a hurler for the Tucson-located Arizona Heat, has 18.12 percent of the vote, trailing only NY/NJ Juggernaut pitcher Kaci Clark with 26.17 percent.

Evans went 124-8 at Arizona, including 54 shutouts.

ASU wins!

After losing 1-0 to Oregon and 6-0 to Oregon State to open its Oregon trip, Arizona State recorded its first Pac-10 win of the year and its first victory since March 20 by upsetting the Beavers 7-2 last weekend.

During their losing streak, the Sun Devils (31-23, 1-9) were outscored 50-8, including 6-0 and 8-0 by the UA in Tempe.

Arizona hosts ASU tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Summer of Finch

Yes, she has that little thing called the Olympics, but Finch will be pretty busy with other ventures this summer.

In addition to serving as the correspondent for MLB's "This Week in Baseball" for the second year, Finch will appear in People in the second week of May, in the July issue of Glamour and in the August issue of Vanity Fair.

Fans won't get to see her face controversial former Sun Devil Barry Bonds on TWIB, though. The Sacramento Bee reported that after the two stars exchanged trash talk at the All-Star game last year, Bonds didn't take a cut against Finch.

The Bee reported that Bonds took four pitches, while fellow Giants ragged on him. One Giant said to Finch, "You're the greatest."

Finch has struck out sluggers like New York Met Mike Piazza and Arizona Diamondback Richie Sexson on the show. The only major leaguers who made contact were Cincinnati's Sean Casey and Seattle's Scott Spiezio.

USA softball named March's American Team of the Month

USA/UA head coach Mike Candrea is already a finalist for United States Olympic Committee Coach of the Year. Now, the USOC smiles on softball again: The USA softball team won Team of the Month for March.

Team USA went 15-0 in March, outscoring foes 123-3, including eight mercy-rule wins. The pitching staff had a 0.24 ERA and the team batted .383.

Coming in second for the coaching award was Misty May and Kerri Walsh in beach volleyball, followed by Patti Lank in curling.

The winner will be announced Sunday. Team USA's win over then-No. 2 UCLA today will air at 3 p.m. on ESPN and Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

Last weekend, the United States finished its perfect Italy trip, beating the Italians 7-0, 5-0 and 1-0. In the series, Finch threw seven innings, allowing just two hits.