Softball hosts regional play with hopes of a title repeat

Arizona Daily Wildcat UA pitcher Nancy Evans returned to the circle to pitch for the Wildcats after an injury that left her on the bench all of last season. Evans finished the regular season with a 30-1 record.

Arizona is hosting the West Regional in hopes of advancing to Oklahoma City, site of the College World Series. Nebraska, Rider and Arizona State will visit Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium this weekend. The format for the regional will be double elimination. The Nebraska plays Arizona State at 5 p.m. UA and Rider square off at 7.

The Wildcats are thr tournament's top seed overall. The received an automatic berth in the NCAAs by virtue of their Pacific 10 Conference Championship.

The Wildcats closed their regular season with a doubleheader sweep of Washington in Seattle.

Nancy Evans ran her nation-leading record to 30-1 and earned a save in relief of Lisa Pitt in the second game. It was the first time Pitt had pitched all year. Regular starter Carrie Dolan, who recently became the all-time winningest pitcher in Arizona history, sat out the doubleheader with a sprained ankle. She is expected to pitch this weekend.

The field of favorites got room for one more last week when UCLA filed an appeal of its NCAA-imposed probation. The Bruins were given the sentence for illegal scholarships given during the 1995 championship season. By appealing, the Bruins will be allowed to compete in the NCAA tournament. Should the NCAA deny their appeal, they would be banned from next year's tournament.

The College World Series will take place May 22-26.