Candrea picks up win No. 700

Remaining games: (2) vs. Arizona State, May 15

Arizona softball head coach Mike Candrea captured his 700th win Feb. 12 against South Carolina at the Fiesta Bowl tournament in Phoenix. He is only the seventh coach to achieve 700 or more victories, and the other coaches to reach this mark had an average tenure of 19 years, while this is only Candrea's 14th season.

"Most girls and I, well, we come here because of him," sophomore first baseman Erika Hanson said. "We wanted to play for him, for the program he's developed and the class he's shown."

His record now stands at 734-153 (.829), as the Wildcats most recently split games at home with the No. 1-ranked UCLA Bruins (50-3, 17-3) and swept No. 5 Washington (36-15, 9-10).

Last season, Candrea was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year. This was not the first time he received this honor, but rather the fifth, as he has the best winning percentage of any active Division I coach and is No. 7 in victories.

"It's not surprising his record is the way it is," Hanson said. "He is a perfectionist and he does everything with heart. He has a lot of pride in the program, and that shows."

The Wildcats close their regular season at home this weekend against Candrea's alma

mater Arizona State and then NCAA Regionals begin May 21.

"Our absolute long term goal is to win the World Series and be in that final game," Hanson said. "He (Candrea) always makes sure we have that in mind, but then he tells us to take it one day at a time, one game at a time."

Kate Longworth can be reached at Kate.Longworth@wildcat.arizona.edu.