By Eric Wein
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Mike Candrea knows what a psychiatrist's day is like.
The UA softball coach spent Tuesday meeting with each of his 13 players individually in his office to find out how they're doing and, at the same time, get a sense of what went wrong last weekend.
The No. 2 Wildcats (39-4 overall, 5-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference) aren't used to losing, and last weekend, they did a lot of that Ä losing two to UCLA and then one to Cal State-Fullerton.
While last weekend could be pivotal in determining the Wildcats' success or failure this season, Candrea and his team hope to put it behind them.
"I try to forget about it," Candrea said. "It's time to move on, get back on track. When you have a weekend like that, it's easy to point fingers. But truthfully, we've had a very positive week."
Setting up counseling appointments was a chance for Candrea to speak to each player, which he seldom has the opportunity to do in the course of a season.
"Each kid is a little different. They have different needs and different concerns. I think you need to sit down and find out what kids are thinking and where they're coming from. They sometimes have problems off the field that start coming onto the field," he said. "It gives me a chance to sit down with each of them and have a one-on-one talk where it makes them feel good about where they're at and what they're doing to keep things in perspective."
If those sessions affected his players, it may be apparent when the Wildcats return home for the first time since March 18 to face Stanford (10-20, 1-11) tonight and No. 10 Cal (28-9, 10-0) tomorrow. Both doubleheaders start at 6 p.m.
The Golden Bears may be ranked 10th in the country, but they sit on top of the standings with a 10-0 conference record. UCLA (28-2, 11-1), which assumed the No. 1 ranking this week, is second and Arizona is third.
But as Candrea pointed out, Cal has yet to face either Arizona or UCLA.