(Tucson, AZ) Eleventh-ranked Arizona (21-7, 3-0 Pac-12) is set to hit the road for the first time this Pac-12 season, as the Wildcats will take on Oregon State (17-7, 1-2 Pac-12) in Corvallis this weekend. Arizona is looking to build on a sweep of Oregon last weekend to open Pac-12 play while Oregon State will hope to bounce back from a series loss at Arizona State. The Cats and the Beavers will meet Friday (5 p.m.), Saturday (2:30 p.m.) and Sunday (12 p.m.) in a series televised by the Pac-12 Network.
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WHO’S HOT?
Reyna Carranco: The junior is on an absolute tear at the plate. She enters the weekend on a 10-game hitting streak, hitting .588 over her last 34 at-bats spanning those 10 games, including five doubles and two home runs. She has multiple hits in eight of those 10 games. Carranco leads the team in both multiple-hit games (16) and batting average (.452 – second in the Pac-12). Twenty eight games into the season, Carranco has already posted a career high in home runs (4) while her 25 RBI are three shy of last year’s 28.
Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza: The 2018 first-team All-American has been a consistent force all season long and is hitting .400 with 10 home runs and is second in the Pac-12 in RBI (36) and doubles (11). Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza enters the weekend on a season-long 10-game hitting streak and has at least one extra-base hit in nine of them (including eight straight). Her eight-game extra-base-hit streak is the longest by a Wildcat since Katiyana Mauga did it in eight straight games from March 15-March 29, 2015.
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Dejah Mulipola: The junior is has six home runs over her last six games, vaulting her into a tie for the Pac-12 lead in homers (13). Over those 16 at-bats, she is hitting .500 with 11 RBI and now leads the Pac-12 with a .902 slugging percentage. Mulipola has four games with multiple home runs, including three of her last 10 games.
Rylee Pierce: The senior transfer had her best weekend as a Wildcat against Oregon, leading the team with a .715 average (5-for-7) with two doubles and a home run in the series. Over her last 13 games, Pierce has reached base in 12 of them.
Jenna Kean: In the month of March, Jenna Kean is hitting .393 and has a hit in eight of the 10 games she recorded a plate appearance in.
RANKINGS
This week, Arizona moved up to 11th in NFCA Top 25 (from 12th), 10th in the USA Softball Top 25 (from 12th) and 11th in the Softball America Top 25 (from 13th).
The Wildcats started the season ranked seventh in the NFCA Top 25 and Softball America Top 25 and sixth in the USA Softball Top 25.
Arizona is one of four Pac-12 teams in the top 25 (all in the top 18).
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