Chris Coduto/Arizona Daily Wildcat In a busy summer for Arizona outfielder Caitlin Lowe, the softball team's leadoff hitter started 11 of 12 games for the USA National Team, while hitting for a .357 batting average. Lowe, a junior, will be one of the leaders of the 2006 Wildcat softball team, which began preseason practice yesterday.

Coming off a year in which she finished with the second-highest batting average in Arizona softball history, Caitlin Lowe has one big goal for the 2006 season: to improve her offense.

"Right now, I want to develop my hitting game, so I'm not just 90 percent slapping the ball and 10 percent hitting," said Lowe, a junior centerfielder. "I want to make sure it evens out a little bit so I can become a little more unpredictable."

As it was in 2005, opposing defenses had few answers for the lightning-quick leadoff hitter. Lowe batted .510 (second only to Alison Johnsen's .534 mark in 1997) with a team-high 47 stolen bases en-route to becoming a finalist for two national player-of-the-year awards.

Despite hitting first in the order, she led the Wildcats in both slugging (.638) and on-base percentage (.560), compiling 32 multi-hit games.

"I think the big challenge for her this year is, because she has so much in terms of skill, she's really going to step up this year and become a leader for the whole team," said junior shortstop Kristie Fox, who led the nation with 64 RBI last season.

"She's a junior now, and I can really see her stepping into that role, trying to take control of the team, being very positive. Her skill, with her hitting, her slapping, her fielding, has always been there. And now she's taking it to the next level."

Lowe got a hint of a higher echelon this summer with the 25-member U.S. National Training Team, playing in the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City and the Japan Cup in Yokohama.

Against the world's top international competition, and sharing a bench with former Arizona luminaries Jennie Finch, Lovie Jung, Mackenzie Vandergeest and others, Lowe hit .357 in 11 starts and was 4-for-4 on stolen-base attempts.

"It was amazing," she said. "I mean, I learned so much from the outfielders, so much from the slappers, and that stuff I can bring back here. I learned a lot about leadership, too. Being one of the rookies on the team, you can just soak everything in."

A shorthanded roster - the team lost nine players from last year - will likely depend again on Lowe's talent as the season progresses.

The Wildcats are expected to have new starters at three or more infield spots, with freshmen Laine Roth (first base) and Jenae Leles (third) seeing extended time with Phoenix College transfer Chelsie Mesa (second).

Anchoring the squad is nothing new for Lowe, whose ability to get on base was matched only by last year's squad's inability to send runners home. The Wildcats hit only 33 home runs in '05, their least since 1992 (15), and on average stranded about one runner per inning.

"It's always important to have that first batter on base with no outs, because it sets the tone for the game, and that's what she does," Fox said. "And she does it well."

Though the team should have some pop in the middle of the lineup with Fox and Pima Community College transfer Erin Slettvet (23 home runs, 105 RBI in 2005), Arizona plans to keep taking the Lowe road toward run production.

"Our entire team, we all rely on her to set the stage for the game offensively," said Wildcats assistant coach Larry Ray. "She gets on, and then (senior leftfielder) Autumn (Champion)'s able to move her around, and that sets the stage for the 3-4-5 hitters to drive in runs. When we do that, most of the times the results are pretty good in our favor."

Ray said Lowe, with her rare match of speed and strong hitting, compares favorably to former Arizona stars Lauren Bauer (1998-2001) and Amy Chellevold (1992-95), both of whom captured national titles.

That goal went unfulfilled for the Wildcats in June's Women's College World Series, as a senior-laden squad lost two of its first three games while batting a paltry .106 (10-for-94).

In the final loss, a 1-0, 11-inning decision to Texas, Lowe went 3-for-5 against training-team peer Cat Osterman, who's aiming for a third consecutive national player-of-the-year trophy.

"I think the expectations may be even higher for Caitlin (this season)," Ray said. "I see her having at least as good a year as she had last year."