CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore pitcher Alicia Hollowell compiled 40 wins during her freshman year, breaking Nancy Evans' record of 36 that was set in both 1997 and 1998. Evans is now the interim associate head coach for the Wildcats and works closely with Hollowell and the rest of the pitching staff.

Hollowell rewrites record books after just one year at UA

For one tense moment Friday, the Arizona softball team's season was up in the air because Alicia Hollowell was down on the ground.

A line drive off the bat of a Mississippi player hit the sophomore phenom on the knee, sending her falling to the dirt.

Luckily for the Wildcats, she picked herself - and their title hopes - back up and struck out 13 of the next 15 batters.

Hollowell (4-0), the undisputed No. 1 pitcher for the No. 2 Arizona softball team (5-0), opened the 2004 season by winning four of the team's first six games, surrendering only six hits and striking out 47 in 21.1 innings. In the process, she led the UA to the Arizona Softball Pepsi Classic title.

That kind of performance came as no surprise to Wildcat fans. Last year, Hollowell led the nation in wins with a 40-5 record and had a 0.94 ERA - 10th-best in the nation - in 48 appearances. She earned first-team All-America honors, in addition to being named first-team All-Pacific region, All-NCAA Region 1, first-team All-Pacific 10, Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year and National Fastpitch Coaches Association national Player of the Week.

She says last year was just a warm up.

"I think I did OK. It was a learning experience - I was learning the ropes, learning everything to do with Arizona softball," Hollowell said.

Last year, Hollowell broke Jennie Finch's school record for strikeouts and interim associate head coach Nancy Evans' season wins record. Evans, who posted the former record of 36 wins twice, recruited Hollowell for two years.

"I told her she better beat it," Evans said, laughing. "I told her, 'If anybody's going to break this record, I want it to be you.'"

Evans, a 1998 UA graduate, said Hollowell's true freshman year ranks right up there with the debuts of Arizona's all-time greats. Evans should know - she won the 1998 Honda Softball Award as the National Player of the Year, was an athletic and academic All-American and was the College World Series' Most Valuable Player.

"I would say as a freshman, it was the top performance we've had," Evans said. "I would say it ranks up there with the top five pitchers we've ever had at the university. She's a great competitor, a great team player and works hard every single day to accomplish the things she's been able to accomplish. It's been exciting to work with her and watch her success - I'd say today, she still continues to grow."

Interim co-head coach Larry Ray agrees.

"The only standard you have is the records that she broke," Ray said.

Hollowell broke those records despite the pressure of having to fill the void left by Finch, who won a pair of national Player of the Year awards before graduating last year. When the team's expected ace, Jenny Gladding, transferred to Florida before last season, Hollowell became the Wildcats' workhorse.

Ray said he was nervous when Arizona started last year in the Louisville Slugger Tournament but ended up "pleasantly surprised."

"I think (Hollwell) is outstanding - I was telling Nancy at this time last year that I thought we were going to be in trouble," Ray said. "About the second pitch of the tournament down in Tampa, I turned to her and I said, 'Who's that out on the mound?' because it was a totally different kid than I had seen in the fall."

Evans said she wasn't surprised at the accomplishments of Hollowell, who had two no-hitters, eight one-hitters and 22 shutouts last season.

"I saw the potential in her," Evans said. "As soon as she got here as a freshman, her and I worked hard every single day in every aspect of the game. So to see her have that success, I wasn't surprised."

Ray said he's most impressed by the maturity of the Suisan, Calif. native, who won the 2002 high school Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award while at Fairfield High School.

"I never really saw her falter," he said. "She shows very little emotion, and I think that shows the maturity of her as a pitcher. She's the one who's going to have the ball when the game's on the line - I can guarantee that."

Hollowell looks to be in for another long season, as both the No. 2 and No. 3 pitchers in the UA rotation may have limited roles. Senior Wendy Allen is recovering from arm surgery, and sophomore Leslie Wolfe was pulled against Mississippi after struggling early.

Hollowell doesn't seem to be worried. She said she was used to throwing six games a day even before coming to the UA.

As for whether she can have a better season this year as Ray predicts, she wasn't making any brash guarantees.

"I just try to grow on how I did last year and just finish the year winning that last game," she said.

It appears Hollowell is well on her way to earning a chance to retire her number, 44, next to Evans' 13 on the wall of Rita Hillenbrand Stadium. The prerequisite is winning the national Player of the Year, and she is already on the watch list for the honor.