The No. 2 Arizona softball team showed both sides of its Jekyll and Hyde offense at home against ASU over the weekend.
The Wildcats (33-6, 7-4 Pacific 10 Conference) needed five innings and a wild pitch to pull even with the Sun Devils (26-18, 1-11) in Friday night's 3-1 win at Hillenbrand Stadium.
With ASU ahead 1-0, Arizona senior third baseman Jackie Coburn plated junior left fielder Autumn Champion with a single in the bottom of the fifth against re-inserted starter Katie Burkhardt.
Burkhardt tossed the ball away in the next at-bat to score sophomore shortstop Kristie Fox, and the Wildcats added a run in the sixth after senior first baseman Crystal Farley avoided a tag at home.
Arizona had no such scoring worries Saturday.
The Wildcats touched up Burkhardt for 10 runs in 5 2/3 innings, as seven players had at least one hit in Arizona's 10-3 victory.
Fox led the charge with two hits and five RBIs, raising her team-high total to 54.
Arizona assistant coach Larry Ray said the jump in production came from players being less choosy at the plate.
"I just think it's a matter of them, each player, telling herself to be more aggressive," he said.
The Wildcats scored their most runs since winning 10-3 against No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette March 27.
Wildcats rising thanks to lesser Pac-10 foes
With its two-game sweep over the Sun Devils, Arizona raised its record against teams in the bottom half of the conference to 4-2, including two losses to No. 10 UCLA April 16-17 in Los Angeles.
The Wildcats, who entered the weekend in fourth place in the Pac-10, began yesterday in a tie for third with No. 3 California (40-7, 7-4), trailing No. 5 Stanford (35-9, 8-3) and No. 7 Oregon State (35-8, 10-2).
After beginning their weekend Friday at Oregon, the Wildcats take on the Beavers for a two-game set Saturday and Sunday. Oregon State defeated Arizona 1-0 in Tucson April 8.
The Bruins (24-12, 5-6) and No. 24 Washington (24-15, 4-6) come to Tucson for a three-game set May 6-8, and Arizona finishes its conference schedule May 12-14 on the road against the Bears and the Cardinal, who played St. Mary's last night.
Ray said the team has gone through a lull in recent weeks, and that he was encouraged by its performance against ASU.
"Hopefully, we're out of it," he said. "We'll find out against Oregon and Oregon State this weekend."
"If we swing the bat the way we did Saturday, we'll be fine," he said.
The Wildcats' game versus the Huskies April 15 was postponed in the fourth inning because of rain and will conclude May 7 in Tucson.
Growing pains
A longer-than-expected spring break hasn't helped freshman pitcher Taryne Mowatt find her early-season consistency.
After giving up four runs in 3 1/3 innings and suffering a back injury against No. 1 Michigan March 20, Mowatt came back to pitch five innings of one-run ball April 10 against the Ducks.
In her last two starts, however, the freshman hasn't lasted more than two innings, giving up a combined eight runs on 10 hits.
Mowatt allowed three runs in two innings against the Sun Devils Saturday before being relieved by junior Leslie Wolfe.
Ray said Mowatt's struggles have less to do with her health than her focus.
"It's a matter of throwing too many fat pitches over the middle of the plate against good teams," he said.
Mowatt is 8-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 57 1/3 innings.
Coburn back to full strength
Coburn couldn't be there as her team suffered a sweep to the Bruins. Instead, she saved her best for last weekend.
The senior went 3-for-5 with two RBIs against ASU, including the game-tying single Friday.
Coburn left the field in the first inning at UCLA March 16 with a pulled hamstring but returned to the starting lineup in both games against the Sun Devils.
Ray said the senior is feeling fine and shouldn't carry any lingering effects through the end of the season.
"She was at about 80 percent for the ASU series," he said. "She's had an opportunity to get some rest."
Coburn has started all but one game for Arizona this season. She is second on the team in home runs, with seven, and joins Fox as the only two Wildcats with more walks (20) than strikeouts (19).