THE GAME (Times MST)
52 | Thursday, May 10 |  1,  0 | Recap | Box Score (PDF)
53 | Friday, May 11 |  at  | Recap | Box Score (PDF)
54 | Saturday, May 12 (12 p.m.) |  at  | Pac-12 Arizona | Live Stats | Twitter Updates
 

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LEADING OFF

• Winners of nine straight and 11 of its last 12, No. 10 Arizona is set to conclude the 2018 regular season at Stanford with a three-game series with the Cardinal, Thursday-Saturday.
• Arizona has won 13 consecutive games against Stanford and has not lost a series to the Cardinal since 2009. Sweeping on the road is always a tall task, but Arizona is able to sweep Stanford like its done the last four seasons, the Wildcats will head into the postseason on a 12-game winning streak, the longest winning streak to end the regular season since UA won 18 straight on their way to the 2001 national championship.
• During Arizona's recent 12-game surge, the Wildcats' success has began in the circle. Arizona has not allowed more than three runs in any of the last 12 games. Arizona's two pitchers, Taylor McQuillin and Alyssa Denham, have combined for a 0.83 ERA and have nearly twice as many strikeouts (85) as they do hits allowed (43). This weekend, McQuillin (2) and Denham (1) combined to shut out Grand Canyon in a three-game series, marking the first time this season UA had not allowed a run in a weekend.
• The Wildcats recently completed five straight weekends vs. ranked Pac-12 opponents, including four top-10 opponents. UA faced No. 1 Washington, No. 22 California and No. 5 Oregon, No. 4 UCLA and No. 8 Arizona State in consecutive weeks. UA played 12 games against top-10 competition in a 17-game span. This season, Arizona has played 13 games against top-10 teams this season, the most since facing 13 in 2011. 
• Arizona is third nationally with 72 home runs, three behind national leader Coastal Carolina. The Wildcats are trying to lead the country for the second straight season after hitting 94 a season ago. If UA is able to accomplish the feat, it will be the first time a team has led the nation in homers in back-to-back games since UTSA in 2004 and 2005. UA hit seven home runs vs. Grand Canyon to cross the 70-homer plateau for the 15th time in school history.
• Alyssa Palomino and Jessie Harper are tied for the Pac-12 lead with 17 home runs, while Dejah Mulipola is tied for sixth with 12. Arizona is the only team in the country with two players with at least 17 home runs and one of only four teams nationally with three players with 12 or more home runs (Campbell, Fordham, Ohio State).
• Taylor McQuillin has 12 shutouts this season, tied for the most in the NCAA, and the most by a Wildcat since Kenzie Fowler in 2010 (15). Three of them have come against ranked teams, including one-hitters vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (2/24) and No. 22 Cal (3/29). She also has a no-hitter this season (2/11 vs. New Mexico).
• Despite returning six starters and 12 letterwinners from the 2017 Pac-12 Championship team, seven of the nine positions feature a new face in 2018. Only two players (catcher Dejah Mulipola and second baseman Reyna Carranco) are in the same position as last year; Jessie Harper (1B to SS), Alyssa Palomino (CF to 1B), Ashleigh Hughes (RF to CF) are all playing new positions. 
• Head Coach Mike Candrea is second in NCAA history with 1,558 career victories, 12 behind Michigan's Carol Hutchins (1,570).
• Six of the top seven Wildcat hitters (by batting average) are all underclassmen, including five sophomores. The sophomore class is hitting .334 with 52 home runs while all other classes are hitting a combined .267 with 20 home runs.

THIS WEEK: The final week of the 2018 regular season is upon us. No. 9 Arizona (38-13, 11-10 Pac-12) has followed a six-game losing streak with 11 wins in their next 12, including nine straight wins off the heels of a three-game sweep of Grand Canyon in which Arizona outscored the Antelopes 18-0 over three games at Hillenbrand Stadium. This week, Arizona will head to Stanford for a Thursday-Saturday series before returning to Tucson in time for the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday. The Wildcats and Cardinal meet Thursday (5 p.m.), Friday (5 p.m.) and Saturday (12 p.m.); all three games will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks. Then, on Sunday, Arizona and the rest of the country will learn their postseason fate on Sunday at 7 p.m. MST when the bracket is revealed on ESPN2. UA heads into the postseason with an RPI of 12 and is in good position to host NCAA Regionals for the second straight year and 23rd time overall.

SCOUTING THE CARDINAL: Stanford (23-29, 2-19 Pac-12) was swept last weekend at Arizona State and has dropped 12 straight conference games since defeating now top-ranked UCLA ... Hannah Howell (.337 avg, 5 2B, 18 RBI), Teaghan Cowles (.329 avg, 7 2B, 18 SB) and Whitney Burks (.279 avg, 11 2B, 5 HR, 26 RBI) lead the offense ... Maddy Dwyer leads the pitching staff in victories (12), ERA (2.46), IP (125.1) and strikeouts (81).

ARIZONA vs. STANFORD: Arizona has swept Stanford the last four years and has won 13 straight overall vs. the Cardinal. Arizona has not lost a series with Stanford since 2009 and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings in Palo Alto. Overall, Arizona is 74-11-1 all-time in the series. 

WHO'S HOT?
The pitchers: Taylor McQuillin (6-1, 0.91 ERA) and Alyssa Denham (5-0, 0.70 ERA) have a combined 0.83 ERA over Arizona's last 12 games. They have combined to strike out 85 batters while allowing just 43 hits in the last 69 innings.
Dejah Mulipola: The sophomore had five hits (5-for-10, .500), including a triple and a home run, vs. Grand Canyon. On Sunday, she drove in a season-high four runs and is now up to 34 RBI this season, third most on the team.
Jessie Harper: The sophomore has four home runs in Arizona's last five games, including a her eighth career multi-homer game in game 3 vs. Grand Canyon. Harper has at least one hit in 10 of UA's last 12 games, hitting .378 with five home runs and three doubles (.865 slg%) in that span.  
Ivy Davis: Over the first 37 games of the season, UA designated players were a combined 17-for-83 (.205) with two total home runs. Ivy Davis has received 13 of the last 14 starts at DP and has four home runs and 12 RBI in that span.

LAST WEEK: CATS SWEEP GRAND CANYON

• Arizona swept Grand Canyon in dominant fashion, outscoring the Beavers 18-0 over the three-game series.
• UA picked up a pair of run-rule victories, a 9-0 six-inning win in game 2 and an 8-0 five-inning game in game 3. Arizona has now won four of its last six games via the mercy rule.
• Arizona hit seven home runs on the weekend, including a season-high five in game 2. On the weekend, Jessie Harper and Alyssa Palomino had two home runs while Malia Martinez, Jenna Kean and Dejah Mulipola had one apiece.
• Arizona's pitchers did not allow a run the entire weekend for the first time this season. Taylor McQuillin threw a pair of shutouts, her 11th and 12th of the season to tie the NCAA lead while Alyssa Denham tossed a shutout in game 2.

THE CHASE FOR HISTORY: Two legends, two Hall of Famers, Arizona's Mike Candrea and Michigan's Carol Hutchins, are battling it out to become the winningest coach in the sport's history. Hutchins currently has a 12-win advantage on Candrea. Below are some notes on their chase for history.

• Last year Candrea became the first coach in NCAA softball history to reach 1,500 Division I victories. Candrea, who is 1,558-401-2 (.798), trails only Michigan's Carol Hutchins (1,570-501-5, .756) in NCAA history. Candrea's victories have occurred over 31 years of coaching at Arizona while Hutchins is in her 35th year (including a season in a lower NCAA division).
• Candrea is the fastest coach in NCAA history, in any sport, in any division, to record 1,500 career wins.

CIRCLE IT: Arizona has finished second in the Pac-12 in ERA in each of the last two years (2016 - 2.67, 2017 - 1.45) and sits fifth in the conference in 2018 with a 1.95 ERA. This season, UA has been tasked with replacing 2017 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-American Danielle O'Toole, who led the conference in ERA (1.21) and finished second in strikeouts (210) and victories (30). Taylor McQuillin (24-9, 1.64 ERA) has filled that void thus far. She leads the Pac-12 in wins (24) and shutouts (12), is second in strikeouts (243) , is fifth in opp. batting average (.163) and is seventh in ERA (1.64).

HARPER HOMERS: Power-hitting shortstop Jessie Harper matched her jersey number with 19 home runs in her rookie campaign and became Arizona's first true freshman to earn first-team NFCA All-America honors since Kenzie Fowler in 2010. The Stevenson Ranch, California native is backing it up in 2018, she recorded back-to-back two-homer games vs. Fresno State and New Mexico in week 1, the first time a Wildcat had accomplished that since 2013 (Lauren Young). Harper, who finished second in the Pac-12 in home runs last season, is tied for the Pac-12 lead this year (17) while her team-high 49 RBI are fourth in the league. Over half of her RBI have come with two out (25 of 49). Her 26 two-out RBI are double what the next Wildcat has this year (Mulipola - 13). Harper, the week 6 Pac-12 Player of the Week, was one of four Wildcats named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Top 50 "Watch List".

GEAUXING OUT WITH A BANG: Two-time NFCA All-American outfielder Aleah Craighton is set to finish her career in Tucson after a decorated three-year career at Louisiana Lafayette. Craighton hit .365 in her Ragin Cajun career with 48 homers, 154 RBI and a .794 slugging percentage. She was named a preseason first-team All-American by three publications and was on the USA Softball Player of the Year "Watch List". Craighton leads the team this season with 24 walks. She is seventh among all active players in the NCAA in career home runs (56) and 12th in RBI (184).

QUEEN REYNA: After posting just five extra base hits in 57 games as a freshman (3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run), Reyna Carranco has 13 in 46 games this season. She has 11 doubles to go along with two home runs. Carranco missed five games with a fractured nose and a concussion when she was hit by a 70 mph Taran Alvelo pitch in the face in game 1 vs. Washington (3/23), but returned four weeks ago vs. Oregon.

TAYLOR'S TIME: After complementing ace Danielle O'Toole during McQuillin's freshman and sophomore seasons, it's now the junior's time to shine. McQuillin, one of the most decorated high school pitchers in recent history, was terrific in her complementary role. Last year, McQuillin was one of 34 finalists for USA Softball Pitcher of the Year; this year, she began the season on the Top 50 "Watch List". McQuillin, the week 3 ESPNW Player and Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week after her dominance at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic that included a one-hit shutout of No. 4 Oklahoma, is tied for the NCAA lead with 12 shutouts and is 12th with 24 victories. The junior, who is 13th nationally with 243 strikeouts this year, sits eighth in school history in career strikeouts.

MINOR SETBACKS, MAJOR COMEBACK: A torn right ACL on day 1 of fall practice (Sept., 2015) cost Alyssa Palomino her true freshman season in 2016. In her return in 2017, she was among the conference leaders and national freshman leaders in home runs (16) and RBI (54) heading into the postseason. Two days prior to last year's Tucson Regional, Palomino tore her left ACL in practice. Now, the redshirt sophomore is in the process of overcoming both devastating injuries. Palomino, who made the switch from the outfield to first base this season, leads the Pac-12 in slugging percentage (.796), is tied for the Pac-12 lead in home runs (17) and is top five in batting average (5th - .387) and on-base percentage (5th - .470). Though her average has dipped under .400 for the first time since week 3, she is trying to become the 13th player in school history to hit .400 with double digit home runs in a season. Palomino was named Arizona Athletics' Sophomore Female Student Athlete of the Year.

HOME RUN U (expanded home run notes on page 7)

• Arizona has hit 2,083 home runs since softball became a Division I sport in 1982, the most of any team in NCAA history. 
• Arizona has four of the top six home run hitters in NCAA history,  including Katiyana Mauga, who hit a Pac-12 record 92 from 2014-17, three shy of the NCAA record.
• The Wildcats led the country with 94 home runs last season, their third time in the last nine years pacing the NCAA. Overall, UA has led the country nine times since 1994.
• Arizona has hit 100-or-more home runs six times in program history. Only two other schools have hit the century mark more than twice (UTSA and Louisiana Lafayette).
• UA has hit 72 home runs this season, third most in the country.

BEATING THE BEST: Since 1994, Arizona is above .500 against ranked teams, top-10 teams and top-five competition. UA is 565-261-1 (.690) against ranked competition, 265-173 (.617) against top-10 teams and 129-120 (.536) against top-five teams.

R31GNING SUPREME: Arizona has appeared in every NCAA Tournament since 1988, Mike Candrea's second year on campus. That's an NCAA-Record 31 consecutive years in the tournament for Arizona. Not only is that the longest active streak, but it is seven years longer than the second longest streak. The 31 straight seasons breaks Fresno State's inactive 30-year streak.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: This fall, Arizona brought back Wildcat All-American, National Champion and 2007 Women's College World Series MVP Taryne Mowatt as an assistant coach, joining Caitlin Lowe on Mike Candrea's all-Arizona staff. Mowatt and Lowe were teammates on both the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Championship squad. Their combined four NCAA titles in addition to Coach Candrea's eight give Arizona's coaching staff a total of 12 as either a head coach or player, the most in NCAA softball. Add in Director of Recruiting-Operations Stacy Iveson, who helped lead UA to three NCAA titles as an assistant coach (96, 97, 01) before winning four NJCAA titles as a head coach at Pima and Yavapai College, you won't find a staff with championship pedigree quite like Arizona's. 

FOLLOW THE TEAM: Be sure to follow the Wildcats on their social media platforms. To stay up-to-date on all the latest happenings with the team, follow Arizona softball on Twitter and Instagram (@ArizonaSoftball).