CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Head coach Mike Candrea was honored earlier this month for his 1,000th career victory that came earlier this season when Arizona defeated NC State. Candrea was named the 2004 United States Olympic Committee National Coach of the Year yesterday.

Arizona softball head coach Mike Candrea was named the 2004 United States Olympic Committee National Coach of the Year, the UA athletics department announced yesterday.

Taking a yearlong leave of absence from the Wildcats, Candrea led the women's national team to its third consecutive gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in August.

The team went undefeated in nine games, outscoring opponents 51-1 and breaking 18 international records in what is considered one of the most dominating performances in Olympic history.

The team went undefeated in a 53-game national tour leading up to the Olympics, including a 6-1 victory over the Wildcats at Hillenbrand Stadium March 26, 2004.

In his 19th season at the helm for No. 2 Arizona, Candrea is 1016-199 (.836), including a 34-8 mark this.

"He plays the averages," said Arizona softball assistant coach Larry Ray of Candrea. "He knows his players. He does what he knows will put them in a high level of success."

Movin' on up?

Junior pitcher Leslie Wolfe had her second-straight solid start in the Wildcats' 4-0 loss Sunday to No. 7 Oregon State, opening the possibility that she can become the team's second starter behind junior Alicia Hollowell.

Wolfe (3-0, 1.04) held the Beavers to one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings before Hollowell entered with a

runner on in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Wolfe tied a career high with 10 strikeouts in relief of freshman Taryne Mowatt April 23 against ASU, keeping the Sun Devils scoreless for five innings while scattering three hits.

Ray said the team is focused only on keeping a three-person rotation centered on Hollowell.

"Leslie is, right now, a very bright spot (on the team)," he said. "It gives us another option."

Mowatt, who suffered a back injury in Arizona's 6-2 loss to No. 1 Michigan March 20, gave up three runs on four hits in two innings.

She hasn't gone longer than that in an appearance since a five-inning, one-run start against Oregon April 10.

Hollowell not digging the long ball

It seems Alicia Hollowell can't wait for Pacific 10 Conference play to be going, going, gone.

The junior has given up seven of her 11 home runs allowed this season to conference foes, including four in a two-game series at UCLA March 16-17.

Hollowell gave up the deciding runs in relief of Wolfe in Sunday's loss to the Beavers when catcher Lisa Allen hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning.

None of the runs were earned, thanks to a Hollowell error earlier in the inning, leaving the pitcher's ERA at 1.06.

Ray said he meant to replace Wolfe with Hollowell after three innings Sunday but instead had to make the swap when Mia Longfellow came to the plate with one on and one out.

Longfellow laid down a sacrifice bunt but reached second base on Hollowell's throwing error.

"Leslie threw very well," Ray said. "In hindsight, maybe I should have left her in."

With regular-season games still remaining against the No. 10 Bruins and hard-hitting Washington, Stanford and California, as well as postseason action, Hollowell should eclipse the career-high 15 home runs she allowed as a freshman in 2003.

Even so, Hollowell is on pace to set career lows in hits allowed, runs, earned runs and walks.

Freshman folly

Freshman Callista Balko ditched her catching gear for a start at another infield spot in Oregon this weekend.

Balko started three games at second base in place of suspended second baseman Shelley Schultz, who did not travel with the team.

The move did little to resuscitate Balko's struggling offense of late, as she went 1-for-8 with a double and five strikeouts.

Her two RBIs in the Wildcats' 9-0, five-inning win Saturday against the Beavers were the first runs she had driven in since hitting a two-RBI double in Arizona's 8-1 win over Oregon April 9.

Ray said Balko has struggled against pitchers who throw outside pitches with two strikes.

"She's just got to learn to adjust and stay within herself," he said.

Balko is 5-for-40 (.125) in 14 Pac-10 starts, as her season average has dropped from .292 to .229.

She is third on the team with three home runs. Her 16 RBIs rank her fourth behind sophomore shortstop Kristie Fox (57), senior third baseman Jackie Coburn (35) and sophomore center fielder Caitlin Lowe (17).

Wildcat offense struggling against Pac-10's best hurlers

As sophomore Brianne McGowan shut out Arizona for her second straight start, the Wildcat offense showed little resemblance to the one that earned its first Pac-10 mercy rule ending the night before.

Arizona smacked around Oregon's Amy Klever and Ta'Tyana McElroy for nine runs on 11 hits in five innings, yet managed only five hits in seven innings against McGowan, striking out 12 times.

The Wildcats have struggled against Pac-10 aces this season, losing to McGowan, Oregon's Amy Harris, UCLA's Anjelica Selden (twice) and Cal's Kelly Anderson, who hold a combined record of 83-29 (.741).

In comparison, two of the pitchers Arizona has beaten in Pac-10 play this season, ASU's Katie Burkhardt and Klever, have .500 records, and another, Oregon's Alicia Cook, is 8-6.

"It's mostly a mindset," Ray said of the team's struggles against top pitching. "Our players are the same, regardless. It's a matter of confidence more than anything."

The Wildcats host UCLA and Selden at 7 p.m. Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium.