One disappointment led ultimately to another this weekend for the No. 1 Arizona softball team. After a thrilling, extra-inning loss to Cat Osterman and No. 5 Texas on Thursday, the Wildcats ended their weekend yesterday with a 6-2 defeat to No. 4 Michigan. "It was a big blow," said Arizona assistant coach Larry Ray. "We had opportunities in the first inning and we really didn't capitalize." Freshman Taryne Mowatt (7-1), coming off a career-best 12-strikeout performance in the Wildcats' 6-0 win Friday over No. 22 Florida State, allowed four runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings before being lifted for Alicia Hollowell, who allowed two runs and struck out six in 3 2/3 innings. Ray said he could not account for the difference in Mowatt's play. "We're not sure. The Florida State game was, by far, her best game as a Wildcat," he said.

Hollowell struck out nine in five innings for her eighth no-hitter of the season in the Wildcats’ 9-0 win over No. 21 Fresno State yesterday in the team’s first game. It was the 13th no-hitter of her career.

Senior infielder Jackie Coburn, who started at catcher, hit a three-run home run, her second in as many days and her third homer of the tournament. Coburn hit a solo home run in the fifth inning against the 49ers. Ray said the position change helped Coburn see the ball better between at-bats. "That had a lot to do with it," he said. "That could have a little effect on what we do with her in the future." Arizona (24-2) entered the tournament having won its first 20 games, thanks to wins over each of its five opponents at the Eller Media Stadium Classic in Las Vegas, March 12-14. Osterman, who entered with two no-hitters in her previous three starts, stepped in Thursday and foiled the Wildcats' hopes for a perfect non-conference record. The junior struck out 23 of 30 Arizona batters and allowed only two hits over ten innings in the Longhorns' 1-0 win. Hollowell (15-1) allowed one run, none earned, on three hits and fanned 11 in 9 2/3 innings, taking what was then the first loss by a Wildcat pitcher this season. "She had probably one of the best games I've ever seen her throw," Ray said of Osterman, who fell three strikeouts short of the NCAA single-game record. "We'll do a better job the next time we see her," he said. Center fielder Caitlin Lowe finished 3-for-4 in the Wildcats' 8-0 win Saturday over No. 8 Oklahoma. It was the sophomore's seventh three-hit game of the season. "She's a catalyst," Ray said. "I have a tremendous amount of confidence in her abilities." Arizona head coach Mike Candrea picked up his 1,000th career victory in the Wildcats’ 12-3 win over North Carolina State on March 13. Candrea, with 1,006 wins, is the fourth Division I softball coach to reach the mark. Sophomore shortstop Kristie Fox finished 5-for-5 with two home runs and six RBIs against the Wolfpack, and Lowe went 4-for-5 with four runs and three RBIs. Hollowell struck out a season-high 18 batters, allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits in seven innings. Her career-high in strikeouts is 20, set March 6, 2004, against Indiana. Mowatt captured two wins at the Stadium Classic. She struck out eight in seven innings in the Wildcats' 3-0 victory over Bowling Green March 12, and finished the tournament allowing one hit over five innings in Arizona's 10-1 win against Long Island March 14. Arizona also defeated Miami-Ohio 6-1 on March 13 and Bowling Green March 12.