Wildcats begin quest for third straight title

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior pitcher Nancy Evans (13) pitches the ball at a game last season. The NCAA Champions are hosting a tournament with Illinois-Chicago, New Mexico State, and Texas - San Antonio. The Wildcats will be playing double headers each day.

The top-ranked Arizona softball team kicks off its 1998 campaign this weekend as it hosts the Arizona Softball Classic at Hillenbrand Stadium.

The tournament runs today through Sunday.

The Wildcat run at a third consecutive national championship begins with doubleheaders against New Mexico State today, Illinois-Chicago tomorrow and Texas-San Antonio Sunday. Each pair of games begins at 2 p.m.

"I am real excited about this season and it is definitely time for us to play some games," Arizona head coach Mike Candrea said. "This is going to be a challenging year for us with all the new faces we have."

A talented octet of freshmen joins an experienced group of returning players from last year's squad, including All-Americans Nancy Evans, Leah Braatz, Alison McCutcheon and Leticia Pineda.

The freshmen include a pair of great pitching prospects in Becky Lemke and Teresa Ayoub, both from the Phoenix area, and potential outfield starter Lindsey Collins.

"I am ready to go," said Lemke, the Arizona State Player of the Year in 1997. "It is time for us to go out there and kick some butt."

Although this season's roster is dominated by underclassmen, the five "old" players are not to be forgotten.

"They (the freshmen) always give us seniors a hard time because it takes us longer to get warmed up at practice," McCutcheon said. "It is kind of a running joke.

"The mixture of the youth and experience really works well, though. We can all benefit from each other in many ways."

McCutcheon, arguably the best leadoff hitter in college softball history, hit .534 last season and is fourth in career average at .457. She went 5-for-5 with five runs scored in Arizona's exhibition over Phoenix College Tuesday, and needs just 84 hits to become the national career leader in that category.

Evans, the 1997 College World Series Most Valuable Player, will anchor the pitching staff that yielded an average of just under two runs per game last season.

Evans owns the best mark in the NCAA for career ERA at 1.40.

In Braatz and Pineda, the Wildcats have two of the most-feared power hitters in the game. The pair combined for 37 home runs and 134 RBI last season. Both rank in the top 10 in NCAA career home runs.

Students are admitted free to all home softball games with their ID. Single-game tickets are available for non-students and may be purchased through the ticket office at McKale Center.