Bear Down Wildcats

This year's Cats team is probably the most talented one since 2001, so expectations this year are high and even Mike Candrea knows it. They have a high-powered offense with speed and the pitching staff is loaded. As long as they stay healthy, nothing short of the World Series will be a disappointment. It should be an exciting run for this club.

Last year's team made it to the Super Regional and was one win from going to the World Series. The Cats lost only one player(Lauren Young) from last year's team and also bring in a highly ranked freshmen class. Oh yeah, they will also have Alyssa Palomino in their line-up. Alyssa, who redshirted due to an injury last year, gives this team another power bat and will hit in front of Mauga, which means pitchers won't be pitching around her. Talking about Mauga, Katiyana is 21 homers away from becoming the all-time home-run leader in UofA history. She will need to hit 29 homers to become the NCAA all-time record holder.

Danielle O'Toole will lead the pitching staff. She finished with 26 wins last year and is definitely the ace, but she is not the only pitcher Candrea can call on. Highly touted sophomore Taylor McQuillin had an impressive first year, recording 12 wins. She should only get better with more maturity. Veterans Michelle Floyd and Nancy Bowling can provide relief help and start on occasions.

The season begins on February 9th as the Cats play host to Fordham. The weekend of March 3rd the UofA hosts a 3-game series with powerhouse Texas. Other notable non-conference games are against Oklahoma, Louisville and Florida State, all those will be played in California. Conference play begins on the road at Oregon State on March 17th.

Thought this might be a good place to leave this....

14-year-old Tucson girl Carlie Scupin commits to Arizona

Gimino wrote:Thought this might be a good place to leave this....

14-year-old Tucson girl Carlie Scupin commits to Arizona

She's a 6' tall freshman lefty. Damn!

This preseason poll reflects the optimism Mike Candrea has been talking about ...

Arizona ranked No. 5 in poll

Thanks for sharing that.

Cats open up the season with a 8-1 victory over Fordham. O'Toole gave up a run in the first but then shut down the Rams for the rest of the game. The offense was led by Mauga who hit her first homer of the year.

Taylor McQuilin struck out 17 tonight and freshman Jessie Harper hit her first home run as the Cats beat Cal State Northridge 6-0.

Irish27 wrote:Taylor McQuilin struck out 17 tonight and freshman Jessie Harper hit her first home run as the Cats beat Cal State Northridge 6-0.

My daughter played softball when she was 7 with one of the CSUN players. Feeling old tonight...

Cats beat #21 Baylor 4-0 as O'Toole got the complete game shutout, striking out 7. Offense was led by Mauga as she hit her second homer of the year, a 2-run dinger.

Cats start the season 3-0 as they beat Northwestern 11-3. Mauga went deep again, giving her three homers this year.

Cats go 4-0 as they beat Tulsa 10-2. Mauga hit her 4th homer of the season and O'Toole got the win. They next play host to Drake on Thursday.

Cats improve to 5-0 as they beat Drake 7-0. O'Toole and Bowling combined to pitch the shutout and Harper hit her second homer of the year.

Cats win both games yesterday as Palomino hits her first college homer and she also drove in 7 runs in the 2 games combined. Mauga hit her 5 th homer of the season/

Cats beat Drake 21-0 and go 9-0 this season. Palomino and Harper homered.

Great birthday for Mulipola as she hit 2 homers and drove in 8 runs in the two wins today. Also, Mauga hit another homer and it's nice to see Bowling pitching well as she recorded her 2nd win of the year.

Irish27 wrote:Great birthday for Mulipola as she hit 2 homers and drove in 8 runs in the two wins today. Also, Mauga hit another homer and it's nice to see Bowling pitching well as she recorded her 2nd win of the year.

Candrea said Mulipola reminds him a bit at the plate of Leah Braatz. I'm thinking Jenny Dalton, but, whatever, the kid is loaded with star power. My story from Sunday:

Mulipola throws herself a birthday party

Gimino wrote:

Irish27 wrote:Great birthday for Mulipola as she hit 2 homers and drove in 8 runs in the two wins today. Also, Mauga hit another homer and it's nice to see Bowling pitching well as she recorded her 2nd win of the year.

Candrea said Mulipola reminds him a bit at the plate of Leah Braatz. I'm thinking Jenny Dalton, but, whatever, the kid is loaded with star power. My story from Sunday:

Mulipola throws herself a birthday party

Thanks Anthony for the article. As for Taylor, was the soreness in her arm?

I asked Mike if it was arm or shoulder and he kind of said 'yeah' and shrugged it off. He didn't make it sound like a big deal and I didn't see her with any extra wrapping or anything. Nancy pitched well for three innings and then worked through some difficulties in her final inning.

Cats open up play in the Mary Nutter with two wins. They beat Lousville 5-3 behind Mauga's 7th homer of the year and then they beat #23 BYU. O'Toole pitched the shutout and is 8-0 for the year. They play Purdue tomorrow and then on Saturday they will play LIU Brooklyn and then #1 Florida State.

Thanks for the updates 27!

Gimino wrote:I asked Mike if it was arm or shoulder and he kind of said 'yeah' and shrugged it off. He didn't make it sound like a big deal and I didn't see her with any extra wrapping or anything. Nancy pitched well for three innings and then worked through some difficulties in her final inning.

Any updates on Taylor?

MrMeow wrote:

Gimino wrote:I asked Mike if it was arm or shoulder and he kind of said 'yeah' and shrugged it off. He didn't make it sound like a big deal and I didn't see her with any extra wrapping or anything. Nancy pitched well for three innings and then worked through some difficulties in her final inning.

Any updates on Taylor?

Yeah she didn't pitch in either game yesterday. Will be curious to see if she gets any time versus Purdue today.

ChooChooCat wrote:

MrMeow wrote:

Gimino wrote:I asked Mike if it was arm or shoulder and he kind of said 'yeah' and shrugged it off. He didn't make it sound like a big deal and I didn't see her with any extra wrapping or anything. Nancy pitched well for three innings and then worked through some difficulties in her final inning.

Any updates on Taylor?

Yeah she didn't pitch in either game yesterday. Will be curious to see if she gets any time versus Purdue today.

That's why I asked. Hope she's okay.

MrMeow wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

MrMeow wrote:

Gimino wrote:I asked Mike if it was arm or shoulder and he kind of said 'yeah' and shrugged it off. He didn't make it sound like a big deal and I didn't see her with any extra wrapping or anything. Nancy pitched well for three innings and then worked through some difficulties in her final inning.

Any updates on Taylor?

Yeah she didn't pitch in either game yesterday. Will be curious to see if she gets any time versus Purdue today.

That's why I asked. Hope she's okay.

Ditto, I'd like to rest Danielle as much as feasible for the FSU matchup. Bowling/Floyd should be able to handle LIU Brooklyn hopefully.

Softball team suffered its first loss tonight to #1 Florida State by the score of 1-0. Arizona had numerous opportunities to score and couldn't get it done. Still a great start by the girls.

Irish27 wrote:

Why was Katiyana Mauga not included here?

Any update on Taylor?

Not a freshman?

Beat Texas 3-0 tonight

O'Toole with another dominant performance. I am so glad the NCAA did not grant her immediate eligibility and made her sit out a year.

Just like the baseball team did, the softball team won 2-1 over Texas on a walk-off hit by Mauga. Also, McQuillin returned after a 2-week rest due to soreness in her pitching arm and went the distance.

O'Toole gives up 2 runs in the first and then pitches 6 straight scoreless innings as the Cats beat Texas 4-2 and sweep the 3-game series.

Michelle Floyd threw a perfect game today as the Cats beat Hartford 18-0. It's the 9th perfect game pitched in UofA history. So far the Cats are 3-0 in the CSUN/LMU Tournament.

Here is a story that shows how great a team player she is.
http://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcat ... 5d9d1.html" target="_blank

Cats beat Cal State Bakersfield 8-0 behind a two-hitter by Nancy Bowling.

Cats beat Loyola Marymount 10-0 and Bryant 5-0 today as they improve their record to 24-1. O'Toole pitched a one-hitter against Loyola Marymount and McQuillin pitched a two-hitter and struck out 12 Bryant batters. Up next for the UofA is on Tuesday against #9 Oklahoma.

#9 OK

Great way to end the non-conference season.

Only one loss to the #1 team 1-0 away from home is amazing.

Looks like it could be a special season.

That's a cool pic.

Rolling on