Arizona is one of five Pac-12 teams that will continue the road to the WCWS and one of three in the top eight. The Bruins took the No. 2 seed, while Washington was third. Stanford and Arizona State were also able to get into the action and will play at the Tuscaloosa Regional and Gainesville Regional, respectively. After being swept by Washington at home a week ago, Candrea thought he’d bring in reinforcements to help the Wildcats reset before playing their last regular-season series at UCLA. The 34-year skipper had three Arizona greats — Leah O’Brien, Jennie Finch and Lovie Jung — write a letter to the team on what goes through their heads in pressure situations. “It really resonated with us because we had just come off of struggles and a tough weekend against a tough team,” ace Taylor McQuillin said. “For us, it was just knowing that we can’t get too filled in our head when those situations come, but really taking it pitch by pitch, out by out — chipping away at the little things to get the bigger successes.”<doc-sep>It turns out the road to the Women’s College World Series indeed will run through Tucson for the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona (42-12) will be the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA softball tournament, it was announced Sunday night, and as a result will host both a regional and Super Regional if it is still alive after the first weekend. The road to OKC runs through Tucson! We'll see you Friday night #BearDown pic.twitter.com/6r7qUXCzVp — Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) May 13, 2019 The Wildcats will open NCAA play Friday at 8:30 p.m. PT against Harvard (25-17), while Auburn (37-19) and Colorado State (38-10) will meet at 6 p.m. Friday in the other opening-round game at Rita Hillenbrand Stadium. The double elimination tournament runs through Sunday. If it moves on, Arizona would be in line to host a best-of-three Super Regional series against the winner of the regional hosted by No. 11 Ole Miss. The winner of that would move on to Oklahoma City. Arizona is making its 33rd consecutive NCAA tourney appearance, extending its own national record, and has reached at least the Super Regional round ever year since 2014, but the Wildcats’ last WCWS trip came in 2010. The Wildcats were one of five Pac-12 teams to make the field, with No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 Washington also hosting regional sites.<doc-sep>The Arizona softball team will begin postseason play this week, looking to make its first Women’s College World Series appearance since 2010. The eight-time national champions went 42-12 overall and 19-5 in the Pac-12 in the regular season, doing enough to earn a top-8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, meaning they will host Regionals and Super Regionals before a trip to Oklahoma City (assuming they advance that far). If you have not been following the Wildcats this season or simply need a refresher, here are some things to know about them as they enter the NCAA Tournament. They dig the long ball Arizona leads the nation in home runs, blasting 99 in 54 games. It’s a team effort, too, as four players have hit 13 or more while senior first baseman Rylee Pierce has eight. A key this postseason will be finding ways to score without the long ball, something that has been an issue at times, especially against elite pitching. This junior class is epic Arizona is primarily led by a strong group of juniors. Power-hitting shortstop Jessie Harper is tied for first in the nation in homers (25) and owns the Pac-12 lead in RBI (64). With 62 career long balls, she has a legitimate shot of breaking UA’s all-time home run record currently held by Katiyana Mauga (92). Centerfielder Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza is hitting .382 with 15 homers and 56 RBI, while playing stellar defense in center field, never mind that she has torn both her ACLs during her UA career. Third baseman Malia Martinez is having a breakout season, posting career highs in pretty much every offensive category including batting average (.321), homers (13), and RBI (53). A member of the U.S. Olympic Team, Dejah Mulipola is arguably the best catcher in the country. She has 21 homers, 51 RBI and a team-high 39 walks. Teams generally refrain from trying to steal bases on the Wildcats because of Mulipola’s arm. And here is a crazy stat: UA pitchers have only thrown nine wild pitches all season, thanks to Mulipola’s blocking ability. That is three times fewer than their opponents have thrown. Second baseman Reyna Carranco (five homers) does not have the same kind of power numbers as the aforementioned players, but she took home the Pac-12 batting title by hitting .433. She is terrific in the field too, making the conference’s all-defensive team. Reyna is injured Arizona could be without Carranco in the postseason—or at least parts of it. She suffered a broken hand and broken thumb on May 4 when she was hit by a pitch while checking her swing. The Wildcats are taking her recovery week by week, but broken bones typically take four to six weeks to heal, so it seems unlikely Carranco will be able to play in regionals. Her status from there on is anyone’s guess. Obviously the sooner she returns, the better Arizona’s chances are of not only making it to Oklahoma City, but doing some damage while they’re there. However, sophomore Hanah Bowen has done a nice job in Carranco’s stead, entering the postseason on a three-game hitting streak. She hit her first career homer in Saturday’s win at UCLA. McQuillin is having a career season, but has struggled lately Equipped with a sharper change-up and in her second year under pitching coach Taryne Mowatt, senior ace Taylor McQuillin is having a career season, entering the NCAA Tournament with a 20-7 record and a career-best 1.59 ERA. The hard-throwing lefty was selected with the sixth pick in the NPF Draft by the Cleveland Comets, whom she will join once the season concludes. The challenge at times for McQuillin has been limiting walks and homers. In her last three starts, she has allowed 12 runs (all earned) on nine walks and 21 hits, three of which left the ballpark. Those outings came against Washington (twice) and UCLA, the type of teams Arizona will need to beat to make a deep postseason run. It’s a staff The Wildcats have shown a new willingness to dig into their bullpen this season. McQuillin enters the postseason fresher than usual, having pitched roughly 75 fewer innings than she did as a junior when she posted a 1.68 ERA. No. 2 starter Alyssa Denham (9-5, 2.08 ERA) has seen her usage decline too. The reason is Bowen (3-0, 0.48 ERA) and Gina Snyder (5-0, 1.95 ERA) have emerged as reliable alternatives. Snyder, a redshirt senior from Tucson, got the win and pitched five strong innings in Saturday’s regular-season finale against a potent UCLA offense. McQuillin and Denham will start most, if not all, of the games in the postseason, but head coach Mike Candrea can afford to have a quick hook if they run into trouble, or if Arizona wants to play the matchups. With all this said, the staff still has to prove it can consistently pitch at the level required to reach OKC. Defense generally hasn’t been a problem Like any team, the Wildcats are prone to defensive miscues, but their defense has generally been good this season, ranking second in the Pac-12 in fielding percentage (.976). They have committed 34 errors in 54 games. Oddly, most of those have come at home. The Wildcats are battle-tested There won’t be any surprises for the Wildcats in the postseason. Arizona had the second-toughest schedule in the NCAA, facing the likes of No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida State, No. 9 Florida, No. 12 Minnesota, No. 14 Oklahoma State and No. 16 James Madison in addition to conference foes like No. 2 Washington and No. 3 UCLA. The Wildcats struggled to beat those elite teams, losing eight of their first nine against the top 10, but they are entering the postseason on a high note after taking two of three against UCLA in Westwood.<doc-sep>The Arizona softball team earned the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host Harvard (25-17) at 8:30 p.m. PT Friday to begin the Tucson Regional. Auburn (37-19) and Colorado State (38-10) will play at 6 p.m. PT. The double elimination tournament runs through Sunday. Arizona coach Mike Candrea, ace Taylor McQuillin and shortstop Jessie Harper met with the media Sunday after the selection show to discuss the draw, the state of the team, the series win over UCLA and more. Here are their respective interviews. Here are Mike Candrea’s thoughts on Arizona Softball earning the No. 6 seed and the state of the team heading into the NCAA Tournament Posted by AZ Desert Swarm on Sunday, May 12, 2019 Here are Taylor McQuillin’s thoughts on Arizona Softball earning the No. 6 seed and finding a new gear in the postseason Posted by AZ Desert Swarm on Sunday, May 12, 2019<doc-sep>
On the verge of a critical road win against third-ranked UCLA, Arizona ace Taylor McQuillin got Pac-12 Player of the Year Rachel Garcia to hit a lazy fly ball into right center field for what should have been the game’s final out. Instead, the only thing that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza and Jenna Kean had a lapse in communication and stared at each other as the ball landed between them on the outfield grass. Garcia raced into scoring position and the tying run was now at the plate in the form of all-conference outfielder Taylor Pack, the Bruins’ dangerous No. 3 hitter. Earlier in the season, such a miscue may have flustered the Wildcats, causing things to spiral out of control like they did the weekend prior when they were swept at home by Washington and every pivotal moment seemed to swing the Huskies’ way. But not this time. McQuillin regrouped, re-entered the circle, and fanned Pack on five pitches to seal Thursday’s 5-3 win. Call it a lesson learned. You see, not long after Arizona was swept by Washington, head coach Mike Candrea reached out to UA softball legends Jennie Finch, Lovie Jung and Leah O’Brien-Amico. He had each of them scribble a letter to the current players, detailing how they dealt with adversity during their playing days. Reading their messages helped the Wildcats ease their nerves heading into the UCLA series, said shortstop Jessie Harper. “It really resonated with us because we had just come off of struggles and a tough weekend against a tough team,” McQuillin agreed. The senior was especially moved by Jung’s letter, which more or less advised her to stay in the moment and not dwell on the past or overthink the future. In Thursday’s case, forget about that dropped fly ball and focus on getting the next hitter out. “For me, that was the biggest outcome because if I look back at myself a couple years ago in pressurized situations, and I failed, I thought the world was ending,” McQuillin said. “And now if I fail, I know I have support from my entire team.” The Wildcats claimed Saturday’s series-finale against UCLA too, their first series win against a high-caliber team all season. Previously, they were 1-8 against the top 10. The team’s new calm mindset was apparent. Candrea thought Arizona’s hitters, who handed Garcia her first loss, were patient and had a thorough approach at the plate. He also liked the way they played defense, going without an error all series. “There was just something in us last Thursday when we played UCLA,” McQuillin said. “Everybody was zoned in at every single position no matter what was going on.” Candrea was even more impressed by the way McQuillin and the rest of the pitching staff handled high-leverage situations, the kind of moments they will need to succeed in if they are to have any success in the postseason. “Our pitchers were in some tough moments and I saw different look,” he said. “It seemed like they were under control and they were confident. And I think that was the one barrier that I was trying to get this group over is we can’t afford to hit the panic button when we get in those moments. Everyone’s going to be nervous. And so you need to get used to it and you need to find a way to deal with it. “And Taylor McQuillin, the last two innings she threw in the first game, I saw different gear that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Maybe a gear that I haven’t seen ever.” At this time last week, the Wildcats were losers of three straight and four of their last five. Candrea admitted finishing the regular season on a six-game losing streak—AKA getting swept by UCLA—would have been devastating. But now, Arizona is brimming with confidence heading into Friday’s Tucson Regional opener against Harvard. All season they have talked about how they all have the pieces to make a run to the Women’s College World Series. Winning two games at UCLA proved it’s actually true. “That last weekend meant so much more than just going there and getting a good seed for postseason,” McQuillin said. “It was finishing conference strong and really showing who Arizona was. “That’s really what we learned: that we are a team and that if we play like one team, our options are limitless.”