If softball games were like the classroom, Arizona would be in the middle of a tough week of midterms.

The top-ranked Wildcats (38-4 overall, 11-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference) swept No. 3 UCLA on Saturday and will travel to Seattle to face No. 2 Washington this weekend.

Quietly sandwiched between those Pac-10 showdowns is tonight's matchup with No. 4 Fresno State.

The Bulldogs (36-6, 13-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) will be at Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium for a doubleheader beginning at 6.

"The process is the most important thing," UA head coach Mike Candrea said. "The object of this game is to keep passing tests along the way."

And make no mistake about it, Fresno offers a stiff challenge. The Bulldogs have won 17 games in a row.

"We know Fresno comes in as a hot team," Candrea said. "We're going to come out prepared."

Leading the way for the Wildcats is freshman pitcher Lisa Pitt (10-0). Pitt has found her stride, as of late, as was evidenced by her 5-1 victory over UCLA on Saturday in Los Angeles.

"She's done a great job and really showed a lot of composure on the mound," Candrea said. "She is getting ahead and throwing strikes. I thought she handled herself quite well."

Junior pitcher Carrie Dolan defeated Fresno State 4-2 in the finals of the Hillenbrand Invitational on March 10 in a tightly contested game that was really a coming-out party for the Wildcats.

After the win, Arizona jumped to the top of the USA Today/National Softball Coaches Association Top 25 poll and would like nothing more than to keep its ranking.

Last season, with the Bulldogs in a similar position - they were ranked fourth - the Wildcats went to Fresno and came away with 3-0 and 9-0 victories.