Softball team to finish first half of Pac-10 play

The top-ranked Wildcats travel to take on No. 20 California and No. 12 Stanford Saturday and Sunday in the last weekend series of the first leg of the Pacific 10 Conference schedule.

Arizona has yet to see Stanford and California play this season but UA head coach Mike Candrea said his preparation for the four-game set will not be any different than in previous weeks.

"I don't do a lot of different things," Candrea said. "I've prepared the same way I have for 13 years. Yesterday we did a scrimmage, getting our pitchers some time and getting our hitters to start taking care of hitting pitches on the outside part of the plate.

"Teams seem to be pitching us more and more away, so we need to work on that."

The Cardinal boast a 28-9 overall record and a 7-5 mark in the Pac-10, good enough for third place.

Stanford's last two doubleheaders have been rained out, prompting concern as to the likelihood of squeezing in this weekend's two-game set.

The Cardinal is led by a pair of Tucson University grads in junior outfielders Michele Acosta and Kelly Yablonski.

Acosta is tops on the squad with a .356 batting average while playing right field. She also leads the team with two home runs, 28 RBI and 42 hits.

The Cardinal pitching staff leads the conference in ERA with a 0.54 mark, which is also third best in the nation.

Across the Bay, the Golden Bears have ridden a roller coaster thus far this season, bouncing to a 4-6 mark in Pac-10 play. They swept a pair of games at fourth-ranked Washington, collecting victories of 6-4 and 3-0, but have won just two of their other eight games in the first leg of the schedule.

Arizona's biggest test will come against Cal's senior hurler Whitney Floyd, who has not given up an earned run in her last 25 innings of work. She also has one no-hitter to her credit this season, an astounding 10-inning shutout of Oregon State April 5. In that contest, she allowed the first batter to reach on a catcher's interference call and then proceeded to retire the final 30 batters in order.

Saturday's matchup against Cal and Sunday's contests against Stanford both begin at 1 p.m.