THIS WEEK (Times MST)
1 | Thursday, May 30 |  3,  1 (8) | Recap | Box Score | Highlights | Photo Gallery
2 | Friday, May 31 |  6,  2 | Recap | Box Score 
3 | Saturday, June 1 (approx. 9 p.m.) |  vs.  | ESPN | Live Stats | Twitter Updates | Arizona Pregame Notes | Arizona WCWS Guide
 

---

LEADING OFF

• After defeating Washington, 3-1, in eight innings in the Women's College World Series opener on Thursday, Arizona fell to UCLA, 6-2, surrendering five runs over the final two innings, to fall into the loser's bracket.
• After facing Pac-12 foes on days 1 and 2 of the Women's College World Series, the Cats will now head into the other bracket, where they will meet the winner of Saturday's all-SEC 1:30 p.m. elimination game between Alabama and Florida. The Cats faced both the Crimson Tide and the Gators back in February and went 0-2.
• Arizona, appearing in its 23rd Women's College World Series, second most in NCAA history, is now 62-33 all-time at the WCWS and is 173-62 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Arizona is appearing in its 33rd straight NCAA Tournament, an NCAA record.
• The Wildcats are now 25-12 in the Women's College World Series vs. Pac-12 opponents. Arizona is now 8-1 vs. Washington in the WCWS and is 8-8 vs. UCLA.
• Arizona is 6-8 vs. SEC teams in the Women's College World Series, including 1-2 vs. Alabama and 0-1 vs. Florida.
• On Tuesday, five Wildcats were named All-Americans, the second most nationally and most at Arizona since 2001. Taylor McQuillin, Dejah Mulipola and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza were named to the first team, while Reyna Carranco and Jessie Harper were named to the second team.
• This marks the second All-America honors for both Harper (2017 - 1st) and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza (2018 - 1st) and the first ever for Carranco, McQuillin and Mulipola. The trio becomes Arizona's 52nd, 53rd and 54th individual All-Americans while the five total All-America honors bring Arizona's total to 105 in school history.
• Dejah Mulipola was named NFCA Catcher of the Year, the first Wildcat to win the award since Leah Braatz in 1998. Which is also the last time Arizona had a first-team All-America battery (Braatz, Nancy Evans).
• UA's 23 trips to the WCWS are second to only UCLA's 29. No other school has more than 14. 
• The Wildcats played each of the other seven Women's College World Series teams in the regular season, the first team to have done that since Arizona in 2000.
• Malia Martinez continues her blazing hot run in the NCAA Tournament. She leads Arizona with a .480 batting average (12-for-25) in postseason play and has four doubles in seven games after hitting five all regular season (54 games). Since the start of super regionals, Martinez has four straight multi-hit games and is hitting a blistering .667 (10-for-15).  
• This postseason, the Cats are hitting .313, the best postseason batting average of any team remaining in the WCWS. Arizona has hit 11 homers in seven postseason games, tied with Oklahoma and Florida State for the most over the three weekends.
• While the offense has led the way, Arizona's pitching and defense have been nearly as impressive during the NCAA Tournament. In the circle, Taylor McQuillin (4-1, 1.37 ERA) and Alyssa Denham (2-0, 0.50 ERA) have combined to post a 1.12 ERA and hold opponents to a .185 batting average. Defensively, the Cats have committed just five errors in seven games and are fielding .976 in postseason play.
• The success in all three phases of the game is no surprise; it's been Arizona's identity all season. The Cats are one of two teams (Oklahoma) in the NCAA to be top-10 in ERA (5th - 1.60), scoring (8th - 6.59) and fielding percentage (9th - .976). Arizona hasn't finished top 10 in all three categories since 2004. 
• Arizona has hit four home runs in the Women's College Worlds Series, bringing its 2019 total to 110, most in the country. This season marks Arizona's seventh season with at least 100 home runs in school history; no other school has more than three such years. Many point to the thin, hot air in Tucson as the reason for UA's power, but the Wildcats have hit more homers away from home (1.9/game) than at Hillenbrand (1.8/game) this season.
• UA's 110 home runs are currently third most in Arizona history, trailing just the 2009 team (134 - Pac-12 record) and the 2001 team (126). The 110 homers are the most by any team since Michigan (118) and Louisiana (116) in 2015, which was also the last year that Arizona crossed the century mark in home runs (104). 
• Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza hit two home runs vs. UCLA on Friday and is now the only player in the country to have hit a home run in all three weekends of the NCAA Tournament. She homered vs. Auburn (5/19) in regionals, Ole Miss (5/25) in supers and now UCLA twice (5/31) in the Women's College World Series.
• Palomino-Cardoza's two homers brought her season total to 19, matching her career high and Pac-12-leading total from a season ago. If she hits a 20th home run, she will join Jessie Harper (29 home runs - 1st in NCAA) and Dejah Mulipola (23 home runs - t4th in NCAA). There has been just one other 20-plus home run trio in NCAA history, the 1995 Wildcat power triumverate of Laura Espinoza (37), Jenny Dalton (28) and Leah Braatz (21).
• Junior shortstop Jessie Harper, who hit her NCAA-best 29th homer of the season vs. Washington, leads the nation with 29 home runs. Those 29 homers rank: tied for 13th in NCAA history, tied for fifth in Pac-12 history and tied for fourth in Arizona history. 
• Harper, a junior, has 66 career home runs, more than any other player (seniors included) still active in the NCAA Tournament. She is already seventh in UA history in career history and currently sits fifth in NCAA history for home runs in a player's first three years, one behind Wildcats Stacie Chambers and Katiyana Mauga, who both entered their senior seasons with 67 career homers.
• The Cats have now won at-least 40 games for the 31st time in the last 33 seasons. UA's 19 conference victories were the most since going 19-2 to win the 2003 Pac-10 Championship.
• Arizona head coach Mike Candrea enters Saturday four wins shy of Michigan's Carol Hutchins for the most career wins in NCAA softball history. Candrea, who is in his 32nd year of coaching at Arizona, has won 1,611 games while Hutchins has won 1,615 over 36 seasons of coaching. Earlier this year, Candrea moved into fifth all-time in NCAA Division I victories among all sports.

ARIZONA VS. ALABAMA
Series History:
    Overall: Arizona leads, 12-5; most recent: Alabama 6, Arizona 1 (Tucson, Ariz.; 2/16/19)
    NCAA Tournament: Alabama leads, 2-1; most recent: Alabama 14, Arizona 0 (Oklahoma City; 5/30/09)
    WCWS: Alabama leads, 2-1; most recent: Alabama 14, Arizona 0 (Oklahoma City; 5/30/09)

• Arizona owns a 12-5 all-time record vs. Alabama, but the Crimson Tide has won the last three, including earlier this season when Alabama defeated Arizona 6-1 on Feb. 16, 2019 at the Hillenbrand Invitational.
• If the Cats and Crimson Tide meet, Arizona will be looking to avenge its worst loss in WCWS history, when they fell to Alabama 14-0 in five innings in 2009, the last time these two teams have met in the NCAA Tournament.

Feb. 16, 2019 (#7 Alabama 6, #9 Arizona 1): The ninth-ranked Wildcats outhit No. 7 Alabama, 7-6, but fell to the Crimson Tide, 6-1. Arizona's offense couldn't pick up a big hit, while its defense committed four errors on the night. Taylor McQuillin (1-3) took the loss for Arizona. She struck out eight batters and allowed six runs, three earned, on six hits with two walks. Reyna Carranco and Jessie Harper had two hits each in the game while Malia Martinez, Dejah Mulipola and Carli Campbell had one apiece. 

ARIZONA VS. FLORIDA
Series History:
    Overall: Tied, 5-5; most recent: Florida 3, Arizona 2 (Tampa, Fla.; 2/16/19)
    NCAA Tournament: Florida leads, 1-0; most recent: Florida 3, Arizona 0 (Oklahoma City, 5/28/09)
    WCWS: Florida leads, 1-0; most recent: Florida 3, Arizona 0 (Oklahoma City, 5/28/09)

• The all-time series is tied through 10 games. Arizona won the first five meetings between the clubs from 1997-2001, but the Gators have won the last five from 2007-2019.

Feb. 9, 2019 (#5 Florida 3, #7 Arizona 2): In a game decided by the long ball, fifth-ranked Florida narrowly defeated seventh-ranked Arizona 3-2. All of the game's five runs were scored on four homers in the contest. Dejah Mulipola and Malia Martinez hit solo homers for the Cats, while Danielle Romanello hit a two-run home run and Jordan Roberts knocked a solo shot for Florida (3-0) in the game. The Wildcats outhit the Gators, 5-4, in the contest and twice had two runners on in the game, but could not capitalize. Taylor McQuillin (1-1) was terrific in the circle after surrendering two homers in the first seven batters of the contest. From that point forward, McQuillin retired 14 of the final 17 Gators she faced in the complete-game hard luck loss. In all, McQuillin struck out six batters over 6.0 innings an gave up three runs on four hits with just one walk. 

GAME NOTES: UCLA 6, ARIZONA 2; MAY 31, 2019

• UCLA handed Arizona its first loss of the postseason. The Wildcats were 6-0 coming into the contest after dispatching Harvard and Auburn in regionals, Ole Miss in supers and Washington in Game 1 at the WCWS. 
• Arizona dropped to 62-33 all-time at the WCWS and 8-8 vs. UCLA.
• Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza hit two home runs, becoming the first Wildcat to hit two home runs in a WCWS game since Stacie Chambers hit a pair vs. UCLA on June 8, 2010.
• Malia Martinez posted her fourth straight multi-hit game and is 10-for-her-last-15 (.667) at the plate.

GAME NOTES: ARIZONA 3, WASHINGTON 1 (8); MAY 30, 2019

• McQuillin tied her season high with eight innings pitched Thursday. She allowed one run on six hits, while striking out seven. She improved to 24-7 on the season with a 1.50 ERA. Her numbers in the postseason have been even more dominating. McQuillin is 4-0 with a 0.97 ERA in four starts. She has struck out 29 in 29 innings and allowed just four earned runs. In her four-year career, McQuillin is now 8-3 with a 1.64 ERA in the postseason.
• Junior third baseman Malia Martinez went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. She has three-straight multi-hit games for the first time in her career. Martinez is 8 for her last 12, after going 4-for-4 in the Super Regional opener versus Ole Miss and 2-for-4 against the Rebels in the clincher. Martinez also has three doubles in the postseason, after having just five the entire regular season. She didn't collect her third double until the 37th game of the regular season.
• Arizona is now 62-32 all-time at the WCWS. The Wildcats are 8-1 against Washington all-time in WCWS play.
• The Wildcats have allowed just 10 runs during their current seven-game winning streak.
• Arizona is now 4-1 in extra-inning games this season and 13-5 all-time in extra innings at the WCWS.

ARIZONA ALL-TIME AT THE WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Arizona is making its 23rd trip to the Women's College World Series, second most to only UCLA's 29. The Wildcats are returning to the promised land for the first time since 2010, when they, after losing their opening game, advanced out of the loser's bracket to earn their 13th berth into the championship series/game where the Cats fell to UCLA in two games. Overall, Arizona is 62-33 all-time at the Women's College World Series and has won eighth national championships -- 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007 -- second in NCAA history to UCLA's 11. Arizona is 61-32 in its previous 22 trips to the Women's College World Series.

ARIZONA ALL-TIME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Arizona is making its 33rd consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, the longest streak in the sport's history and the longest active streak by seven years. The Wildcats have a 173-62 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 95-12 mark in regionals, 15-17 record in super regionals and a 62-33 showing in the Women's College World Series. Arizona has appeared in every NCAA Tournament since 1987, Mike Candrea's second season on campus. In those 33 trips, UA has appeared in the Women's College World Series in 23 of them, winning the national championship eight times.

SUPER REGIONAL RECAP: Arizona used a combination of power, small ball, dominant pitching and excellent defense to finish off Ole Miss in just two games, defeating the Rebels 5-2 in game 1 and 9-1 in game 2. Arizona outhit Ole Miss, 22-11 and outscored it 14-3 over the two games. Malia Martinez (.750 avg, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI) led the way offensively, but a large reason for UA's success was because its 7-9 hitters -- Hanah Bowen, Hannah Martinez and Carli Campbell -- went a combined 8-17 (.471) in the two games. 
Game 1 (#6 Arizona 5, #17 Ole Miss 2): Arizona and Ole Miss traded punches early, with each team scoring a run in their first and second innings, but Arizona's steady offensive attack proved to be too much for Ole Miss. So did Taylor McQuillin, who struck out nine and settled in to only allow the two early runs -- one earned -- in the game. Malia Martinez finished 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.
Game 2 (#6 Arizona 9, #17 Ole Miss 1): Arizona scored the final eight runs of the game from the fourth inning on as the Cats ran away with game 2 on their way to the Women's College World Series. Like it has all season, Arizona's junior class led the way: Malia Martinez, Dejah Mulipola and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza all homered, Reyna Carranco had the game-winning RBI in the fourth and Alyssa Denham tossed a complete game in the circle. 

REGIONAL RECAP: Arizona excelled both offensively and in the circle to sweep the Tucson Regional, defeating Harvard (5-1) in the opener before taking down Auburn 2-1 and 12-3 to win its 31st regional title. Arizona hit .360 as a team over the three days, the highest batting average of any team in the regionals while Taylor McQuillin (2-0, 1.00 ERA, 13 K, 14 IP) and Alyssa Denham (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 K, 7.0 IP) shut down the three opponents. Arizona, which entered the weekend the nation's leader in home runs, did not hit a home run in games 1 and 2 of the Tucson Regional, UA's first time all season being held without homers in back-to-back games, before finding its power stroke in game 3 with four homers, three off the bat of Jessie Harper. 
Game 1 (#6 Arizona 5, Harvard 1): Taylor McQuillin threw a one-hitter to get the Cats off on the right foot. The offense took a while to get going, but plated four sixth-inning runs to take control of the game. Hannah Martinez had the game-tying hit in the fourth and then the go-ahead hit in the sixth.
Game 2 (#6 Arizona 2, #24 Auburn 1): In a pitchers' duel between Taylor McQuillin and Lexie Handley, the Cats used a pinch-hit, two-run single from Tamara Statman in the bottom of the fourth inning and then held off an Auburn rally in the seventh to win it. 
Game 3 (#6 Arizona 12, 24 Auburn 3): After a couple of close games in games 1 and 2 of the Tucson Regional, the floodgates opened for the Cats on Sunday, using a 5-for-5, three-home run game fom Jessie Harper to do the heavy lifting for the Cats. Both teams scored three runs in the third before the Cats scored six in the fourth to break it open. Harper homers in the sixth and seventh added insurance for Denham, who struck out 10 and did not allow an earned run in the complete game.