If there was one word mentioned by players and coaches on the No. 2 Arizona softball team, it's consistency.
Mostly, the word is thrown around because consistency has been hard to come by for the Wildcats in Pacific 10 Conference play, especially offensively. Their spotty hitting has hurt them in some close conference games, where they have an 8-6 record.
"One day we walk out and get the hits we need, and the next day we don't," said head coach Mike Candrea. "When you are hitting well, the ball looks big and slow, but when you have hitting troubles, it looks like an aspirin."
The No. 2 Arizona softball team faces its longtime conference rival No. 12 UCLA Friday at 7 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium where the Wildcats hope that aspirin looks a little bigger and comes into home plate a little slower.
The game features familiar foes, both sitting in pretty unfamiliar territory.
The two traditional powerhouses sit in fourth and sixth place, respectively, in Pac-10 play, an odd place for teams that have combined for 16 of the 22 national titles in the history of NCAA softball.
Whether the two teams are first and second or seventh and eighth in the conference, respectively, games between the Wildcats and the Bruins rarely disappoint.
"It always seems like the winner of this game wins on a walk-off homer or an error. It's a nail-biter every time," said senior pitcher Leslie Wolfe.
"For me personally, it's one of my favorite games to play in."
If the standings don't change over the last two weekends remaining in the regular season, the Wildcats will have their worst finish since the 1991 season when they placed fourth. The Bruins finished in fourth last season, their lowest since placing seventh in the 1998 season. However, after shaky conference play where they finished 12-8, the Bruins went on to win their 10th national title.
In Los Angeles, the Bruins won round one and two against the Wildcats. On April 16 they defeated Arizona by mercy-rule, 9-1 in six innings. The next day, the Wildcats came back from an early 4-1 deficit to tie up the game, only to lose on a walk-off single by catcher Emily Zaplatosch to win the game 5-4.
On Saturday, the Wildcats face Washington in a quasi-double header. Their game on April 15 at Washington was postponed due to rain. The game will begin at 3:30 p.m., starting with the first batter at the top of the fifth inning with the Wildcats holding a 3-0 lead.
At 5 p.m., they will start the regularly- scheduled game for Saturday. Sunday's game will start at 1 p.m.
Washington sits between Arizona and the Bruins in the conference standings with a 7-7 conference record and a 27-16 overall record. The Huskies are coming off a strong weekend where they defeated second-place No. 4 Stanford 6-4 and took one from third-place No. 3 California, 1-0.
Candrea said, as of yesterday, that junior second baseman Shelly Schultz will be eligible to play in this weekend's games. Schultz did not travel with the team to Oregon last weekend, and assistant head coach Larry Ray said earlier this week she was suspended indefinitely. Schultz was charged last month with animal cruelty and neglect after allegedly abandoning two dogs at her former home.