Junior pitcher Leslie Wolfe has thrived this season as the No. 2 Arizona softball team’s third starter. After making her last appearance March 3 against No. 3 California, Wolfe allowed only three hits in five innings of relief in Saturday’s 10-3 win over ASU and struck out 10, matching a career high. Wolfe is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in five appearances and leads the pitching staff with a .91 ERA in Pacific 10 Conference play.
Wolfe spoke with the Arizona Daily Wildcat before yesterday’s practice on earning coaches’ praise, dancing in the dugout and tossing around hockey pucks.
Wildcat: (Assistant) coach (Larry) Ray said your performance Saturday was the best he had seen you pitch in your three years here. Do you agree?
Wolfe: Yeah. I’d say that’s the best I’ve seen myself pitch and the best I’ve felt in my career. Definitely.
Wildcat: Your 10 strikeouts matched a career high that you set against North Texas last year. Which game means more to you?
Wolfe: I’d say definitely ASU, because it’s a Pac-10 game, and we’re rivals with ASU.
Wildcat: You’ve had fewer innings, fewer appearances this year, but you’ve lowered your extra-base hits allowed, those kinds of things. How do you see your role on this team?
Wolfe: I see it as, you know, whenever I get called on, whether to start a game and pitch a few innings or come in a game and shut it down, depends on whatever they need me for. I just have to be ready for either role, whatever they call upon me to do.
Wildcat: You came in with Alicia Hollowell (in 2003). What kind of relationship do you share?
Wolfe: Being pitchers, we’re always pulling for each other. We’re a staff, so we’re always pulling for each other pretty well. She’s a great rise-ball pitcher, so I pick her brain and her pitches, just like she does with me and mine. All around, I think our staff is very supportive.
Wildcat: I’ve seen some of the hitters, they have their dances, their handshakes, etc. Do the pitchers have anything like that?
Wolfe: Not really. Pitchers don’t really have our own handshakes and dances. We really don’t. We’re just kind of quiet. We have little things that we say to each other — “Hit your spots” or “Paint the black.”
Wildcat: I saw Alicia playing with something that looks like a hockey puck. What is that, and what is it used for?
Wolfe: It’s a tool for her rise ball. Basically, it’s like the same thing as a roll of masking tape or a hockey puck. It’s just a tool to make sure you get good spin on your rise ball.
Wildcat: Right now, the team’s tied for third place in the Pac-10. What kind of things do you think the team needs to do get back up in the conference?
Wolfe: I think we’re going to feed off of our last game against ASU. I think the intensity of practice has been raised. That, in turn, raises the intensity in games. I think last weekend was a positive weekend for us. We’re just going to roll with it, get out there and have fun. The big thing is that we’re having fun and just getting out there right now.
Wildcat: The team has seven (conference) wins right now. Let’s say Arizona finishes with a (Pac-10) record similar to (defending national champion) UCLA last season. Does the team have at least as much of shot at being the national champion?
Wolfe: Oh, yeah. Regardless of how you do in the Pac-10, it has nothing to do with the end of the season. UCLA really didn’t have a great preseason last year and ended up coming back and winning in the end. Right now, I think we’re fine where we’re at. Toward the end of the year, that’s when we’ll really get after it.
Wildcat: Alicia went through a recent stretch where she made seven starts in a row. What’s the longest such stretch you’ve had?
Wolfe: I was the only pitcher in high school. We had about 40 games in a season, and I threw all but two, I think. Those two were kind of mixed in the middle there. I’ve definitely had some long stretches. (Laughs)
Wildcat: How does that start to feel after a while?
Wolfe: High school, I never really paid attention to that. It was just, kind of, I was the one pitcher. It was normal. Toward the end of the season, I was a little tired, a little sore. I loved it. I never really noticed when I got sore or tired. I couldn’t imagine doing that now!