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Arizona Wildcats softball
2023 Arizona Wildcats Softball team
Founded1974; 50 years ago (1974)
UniversityUniversity of Arizona
Athletic directorDesireé Reed-Francois
All-time Record2,101–683–2 (.754)[1]
Head coachCaitlin Lowe (3rd season)
ConferencePac-12
LocationTucson, Arizona
Home stadiumMike Candrea Field at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 2,956)
NicknameWildcats
ColorsCardinal and navy[2]
   
NCAA Tournament champions
1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007
NCAA WCWS runner-up
1992, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2010
NCAA WCWS appearances
1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2021, 2022
AIAW WCWS appearances
1974, 1975, 1977, 1979[3]
NCAA Super Regional appearances
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances
1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024
Regular Season Conference championships
1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2017

The Arizona Wildcats softball team represents the University of Arizona in NCAA Division I Softball. Having claimed eight national championships (second only to UCLA), the team is one of the most successful in the history of the sport. It plays its home games at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium in Tucson, AZ. The team was formerly coached by Mike Candrea, who began his UA coaching career in 1986 and announced his retirement on June 8, 2021. He retired as the all time winningest coach in Collegiate softball history with 1,674 wins, more Collegiate national titles with 8 and the fourth most wins of any coach in any NCAA sport. [4]

On August 4, 2023, Arizona announced it would join the Big 12 Conference along with Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.[5]

History

[edit]

1974 to 1985

[edit]

The Arizona Wildcats officially began softball play in 1974 under head coach Judy Spray in the Intermountain Conference. The first team in the school's history went 11–3 and participated in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Women's College World Series (WCWS). The AIAW and Amateur Softball Association[3] co-sponsored the Women's College World Series through 1982 (the NCAA held a separate tournament in 1982 when it began organizing women's softball). The 1975 team also played in the WCWS. In 1977, the Wildcats finished second in the WCWS, just missing out on winning the tournament. In 1979, the team once again qualified for the WCWS. However, after the 1979 season, the Wildcats failed to make the postseason again until 1987. From 1981 to 1986, the Wildcats were members of the Western Collegiate Athletic Association (WCAA), which renamed itself the Pacific West Conference (PacWest; not to be confused with the current NCAA Division II conference) for its final season.[6] The WCAA/PacWest folded after the 1986 season when the then-Pac-10, home to all five of the final PacWest members, began sponsoring women's sports.

Mike Candrea era (1986–2021)

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Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium in 2019

Mike Candrea was hired for the 1986 season to build the Wildcats program. In his first season, the Wildcats won 29 games and missed out on the postseason. However, in 1987, Arizona won 42 games and made the NCAA tournament for the first time since the NCAA began sponsoring the sport. In 1988, Candrea guided the Wildcats to 54 wins and an appearance in the Women's College World Series where the team finished tied for third place. From 1988 to 2003, the Wildcats made sixteen straight appearances in the Women's College World Series. Arizona's first national championship season came in 1991. The Wildcats went 56–16 that year. In 1992, the Wildcats won the school's first Pac-10 title and finished runner-up at the Women's College World Series. The Wildcats continued their hot streak throughout the 1990s winning national championships in 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997. The 1994 team went 64–3 and was ranked #1 throughout the year. Arizona also claimed the Pac-10 championship in 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998. The Wildcats experienced continued success in the 2000s winning another national title in 2001 after finishing that year 65–4. The Wildcats won the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007 conference titles. Candrea left Arizona to coach the USA National team in the 2004 Olympics, and Larry Ray was named the interim coach for the 2004 season. The 2004 team won 55 games but lost to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Regionals, which marked the first time since 1987 that the Wildcats did not make it to the Women's College World Series. Candrea returned in 2005, and the Wildcats again returned to Oklahoma City for the World Series. The 2006 Arizona team defeated the Northwestern Wildcats to capture the Wildcats' seventh national title and their first since 2001. The 2007 Wildcats repeated as national champions by defeating the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in the championship series after losing the opening game of the series. Larry Ray again was tagged the interim coach in 2008 when Candrea coached the U.S. National Team at the 2008 Olympics. The 2008 team again made it to the Women's College World Series finishing tied for seventh in the eight team field. The Wildcats participated in the World Series in both 2009 and 2010 finishing tied for seventh and second respectively.[7] In 2011, the Wildcats were eliminated in the NCAA Super Regional play by the Oklahoma Sooners.[8]

Caitlin Lowe-Nagy era (2022–present)

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Following the retirement of former head coach Mike Candrea, Lowe–Nagy was announced as the next head coach of the Arizona Wildcats softball program. Lowe–Nagy spent the last nine seasons under Candrea following a professional player with the USSSA Pride and internationally with Team USA, winning Silver Medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She also was a former player under Candrea, playing from 2004–2007 & had one of the most decorated careers of any player in Arizona history. A two-time national champion in 2006 & 2007, as well as numerous Arizona records such as: second in batting average (.446), fourth in hits (351), fourth in triples (12), seventh in runs scored (242) and first in stolen bases (156). She was unanimously named the greatest centerfielder of all time, both by a fan vote and by the 7Innings Podcast crew in its Greatest Softball Team of All-Time. Lowe–Nagy is one of only six Wildcat players to be named an NFCA All-American in each of her four years with the program and joined Leah Braatz (1994, 95, 97, 98) as the only player in Arizona history to be awarded first-team All-America all four years.[9]

All-Americans

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Arizona has had 57 different players selected to All-American teams for a total of 111 times. Arizona has had 6 four-time all-americans(Chellevold, Braatz, Bauer, Hollowell, Lowe & Lastrapes) 9 three-time all-americans(Parra, Espinoza, Dalton, O’Brien, McCutcheon, Pineda, Mascarenas, Giordano, Finch & Harper) & 15 two-time all-americans.[10] Leticia Pineda became the first Division I softball player to be named a first team All-American at three different positions: catcher, third base & first base.[11] Leah Braatz became Arizona's first four-time first team All-American.[12] Caitlin Lowe became Arizona's second player to be a four-time first team All-American.[13]

Head coaches

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Main article: List of Arizona Wildcats head softball coaches
Name Years Seasons Won Lost Tie Pct.
Judy Spray 1974–1976 3 45 18 0 .714
Ginny Parrish 1977–1979 3 82 40 0 .672
Rocky LaRose 1980 1 23 23 0 .500
Paula Noel 1981–1985 5 103 93 0 .526
Larry Ray (Interim) 2004, 2008 2 96 25 0 .793
Mike Candrea 1986–2021 36 1,674 436 2 .793
Caitlin Lowe-Nagy 2022–present 3 78 48 0 .619
All-Time 50 2,101 683 2 .754

Year-by-year results

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Main article: List of Arizona Wildcats softball seasons
Season Coach Record Notes
Overall Conference
Intermountain Conference
1974 Judy Spray 11–3 — AIAW College World Series
1975 13–8 — AIAW College World Series
1976 21–7 —
1977 Ginny Parrish 22–14 6–2 AIAW College World Series
1978 16–11 3–6
1979 44–15 15–3 AIAW College World Series
Western Collegiate Athletic Association
1980 Rocky LaRose 23–23 2–14
1981 Paula Noel 24–20 5–11
1982 21–20 6–14
1983 20–24 7–12
1984 28–16 5–5
1985 17–16 5–7
Pacific West Conference
1986 Mike Candrea 27–13–1 5–6–1
Pacific-10/12 Conference
1987 Mike Candrea 42–18 6–4 NCAA Regional
1988 54–18 15–5 Women's College World Series
1989 48–19 11–9 Women's College World Series
1990 49–17 12–6 Women's College World Series
1991 56–16 11–9 Women's College World Series Champions
1992 58–7 16–2 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series
1993 44–8 15–3 Women's College World Series Champions
1994 64–3 23–1 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series Champions
1995 66–6 24–4 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series
1996 58–9 23–5 Women's College World Series Champions
1997 61–5 26–1 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series Champions
1998 67–4 27–1 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series
1999 53–16 19–9 Women's College World Series
2000 59–9 16–4 Women's College World Series
2001 65–4 19–2 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series Champions
2002 55–12 15–6 Women's College World Series
2003 56–7 19–2 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series
2004 Larry Ray 55–6 17–3 Pac-10 Champions, NCAA Regional
2005 Mike Candrea 45–12 13–8 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series
2006 54–11 15–6 Women's College World Series Champions
2007 50–14–1 15–5–1 Pac-10 Champions, Women's College World Series Champions
2008 Larry Ray 41–19 13–8 Women's College World Series
2009 Mike Candrea 46–17 13–7 Women's College World Series
2010 52–14 12–8 Women's College World Series
2011 43–18 11–10 NCAA Super Regional
2012 44–16 12–12 NCAA Super Regional
2013 33–24 9–15 NCAA Regional
2014 44–16 14–10 NCAA Super Regional
2015 41–20 13–11 NCAA Super Regional
2016 40–21 13–11 NCAA Super Regional
2017 52–9 18–6 Pac-12 Champions, NCAA Super Regional
2018 43–14 13–11 NCAA Super Regional
2019 48–14 19–5 Women's College World Series
2020 22–3 0–0 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 41–15 12–10 Women's College World Series
2022 Caitlin Lowe-Nagy 39–22 8–16 Women's College World Series
2023 29–25 6–18
2024 28–13–1 9–9

NCAA Tournament seeding history

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National seeding began in 2005. The Arizona Wildcats have been a national seed 14 of the 16 tournaments. Seeds in bold were national title seasons.

Years → '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '01 '02 '03 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '14 '15 '17 '18 '19 '21
Seeds → 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 7 9 10 8 13 11 12 2 14 6 11

National championships

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Arizona Wildcats Softball

National
Champions

1991
50–15
National
Champions

1993
44–8
National
Champions

1994
64–3
National
Champions

1996
58–9
National
Champions

1997
61–5
National
Champions

2001
65–4
National
Champions

2006
54–11
National
Champions

2007
50–14–1

Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player

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Player

Jenny Dalton

1996
Nancy Evans

1996
Jennie Finch

2001
Alicia Hollowell

2006
Taryne Mowatt

2007

Retired jerseys

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Retired Softball Jerseys

Jenny
Dalton

16
Nancy
Evans

13
Jennie
Finch

27
Susie
Parra

1
Julie
Reitan

10

Wildcats of note

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Name Seasons as Wildcat Position Accomplishment
Leah Braatz 1994–98 Catcher Four Time 1st Team All American, Two Time National Champion (1994, 1996)
Jenny Dalton 1993–96 2nd Base All-Time NCAA Career RBI (328) leader, Single Season Runs Scored (101) leader, Three Time 1st Team All American, Three Time National Champion (1993, 1994, 1996)
Laura Espinoza 1992–95 Shortstop All-Time NCAA Single Season Home Run (37), RBI (128) & Total Bases (232) Record, Two Time 1st Team All American, Two Time National Champion (1993, 1994)
Nancy Evans 1994–98 Pitcher NCAA Highest Career (Min 75 decisions) Winning Percentage (.939, 124−8), Two Time 1st Team All American, Three Time National Champion (1994, 1996, 1997)
Jennie Finch 1999–02 Pitcher NCAA Consecutive Victory Record (60), Perfect Season Record (32−0), Three Time 1st Team All American, Olympic Gold Medal (2004), National Champion (2001)
Alicia Hollowell 2003–06 Pitcher All Time Arizona Wins Leader (144), 17 Career No−Hitters, 4 Perfect Games, Two Time 1st Team All American, Olympic Silver Medal (2008), National Champion (2006)
Brittany Lastrapes 2008–11 Outfield Three Time 1st Team All American
Caitlin Lowe 2004–07 Centerfield Arizona All Time Steals Leader (156), Committed 0 Errors (234 Games), Four Time 1st Team All American, Olympic Silver Medal (2008), Two Time National Champion (2006, 2007)
Alison McCutcheon 1995–98 Outfield Three Time 1st Team All American, All-Time NCAA Single Season (132) & Career Hits (405) leader, Two Time National Champion (1996, 1997)
Leah O'Brien 1993–97 Centerfield Three Time 1st Team All American, Three Time National Champion (1993, 1994, 1997), Olympic Gold Medal (1996, 2000, 2004)

National awards

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Honda Softball Award

USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year

  • 2009 Jennie Finch
  • 2015 Kellie Fox
  • 2015 Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza (Junior Athlete of the Year)

ESPY Award

  • 2007 Taryne Mowatt - Best Female Athlete, Best Female College Athlete

Lowe's Senior Class Award

NFCA Golden Shoe Award

NFCA Catcher of the Year

Coach of the Year

  • 1986 Mike Candrea, Pacific-West co-honor
  • 1987 Mike Candrea, Pac-10
  • 1988 Mike Candrea, Northwest Region, Pac-10
  • 1994 Mike Candrea, NSCA Div. I, National Coach of the Year, Pacific Region, Pac-10
  • 1995 Mike Candrea, Pacific Region
  • 1996 Mike Candrea, Speedline/NFCA Division I, National Coach of the Year
  • 1997 Mike Candrea, Speedline/NFCA Division I, National Coach of the Year, Pac-10, Pacific-Region
  • 1998 Mike Candrea, Pac-10
  • 2000 Mike Candrea, Pac-10 co-honor
  • 2001 Mike Candrea, Pac-10 co-honor
  • 2002 Mike Candrea, Pac-10
  • 2003 Mike Candrea, Pac-10
  • 2007 Mike Candrea, Pac-10 Staff, NFCA Division I
  • 2017 Mike Candrea, Pac-12 Staff, NFCA West Region

Conference awards

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Pac-10 Conference Medal

Pac-12 Player of the Year

  • 1994 Susie Parra
  • 1995 Laura Espinoza
  • 1996 Jenny Dalton
  • 1997 Alison McCutcheon
  • 1998 Alison McCutcheon
  • 2005 Caitlin Lowe
  • 2017 Katiyana Mauga

Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year

Pac-12 Freshman of the Year

Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year

  • 2007 Caitlin Lowe
  • 2014 Kellie Fox
  • 2015 Hallie Wilson
  • 2023 Allie Skaggs
  • 2024 Tayler Biehl

Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year

  • 2007 Kelsey Rodriguez
  • 2024 Allie Skaggs

CoSIDA Academic All-Americans[14]

  • 1984 Kathy Jo Lanford
  • 1985 Lisa Bernstein
  • 1985 Kathy Jo Lanford
  • 1986 Lisa Bernstein
  • 1994 Leah O'Brien
  • 1995 Jenny Dalton
  • 1995 Leah O'Brien
  • 1996 Jenny Dalton
  • 1997 Leah O'Brien
  • 1998 Nancy Evans
  • 2004 Wendy Allen
  • 2006 Autumn Champion
  • 2010 K'Lee Arredondo
  • 2019 Tamara Statman

Record vs. Pac-12 opponents

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The Arizona Wildcats lead the all-time series regardless of conference affiliation vs. eight other Pac-12 opponents(Colorado, USC & Washington State do not field a softball teams), trailing only UCLA.[15]

Opponent Wins Losses Ties Pct. Streak
Arizona State 105 61 1 (.632) Arizona 4
California 91 38 0 (.705) California 2
Oregon 92 38 0 (.708) Arizona 1
Oregon State 117 18 0 (.867) Arizona 4
Stanford 85 19 1 (.814) Stanford 1
UCLA 61 97 0 (.386) UCLA 1
Utah 48 16 0 (.750) Arizona 2
Washington 72 46 0 (.610) Arizona 1
  • Total (671–333–2, .668)
  • Note all-time series includes non-conference matchups, Pac-12 Tournament & Women's College World Series.

All-Time Statistical leaders

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Source:[16]

Career No-Hitters(Solo/Combined)
Name Years No-Hitters
Alicia Hollowell 2003–06 16/1
Susie Parra 1991–94 8
Jennie Finch 1999–02 8
Taryne Mowatt 2005–08 6/1
Debbie Day 1991–92 6

† indicates Pac-12 record

‡ indicates NCAA record

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2023-24 Arizona Media Guide" (PDF).
  2. ^ "Colors | University of Arizona Brand Resources". Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
  4. ^ "Coach Mike Candrea: An Appreciation to the Standard".
  5. ^ Robbins, Robert C. (August 4, 2023). "University of Arizona Will Join the Big 12 Conference in 2024-25". University of Arizona Athletics.
  6. ^ "Arizona Wildcats Yearly Records" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
  7. ^ Mike Candrea Biography: The University of Arizona Official Athletic Site Archived April 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Arizona Wildcats Eliminated from Tournament
  9. ^ "Arizona Announces Caitlin Lowe as Next Head Softball Coach".
  10. ^ "2023 Arizona Softball Record Book" (PDF).
  11. ^ "Leticia Pineda-Boutte Bio".
  12. ^ "Leah Braatz Player Bio".
  13. ^ "Caitlin Lowe Player Bio".
  14. ^ "University of Arizona - Academic All-Americans (as selected by CoSIDA)". static.arizonawildcats.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  15. ^ "2023 Arizona Softball Record Book" (PDF).
  16. ^ "2023 Arizona Softball Record Book" (PDF).
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