University of Arizona Tournament

University of Arizona Tournament

Who: USF (10-7), Wichita St. (9-5), Sam Houston St. (5-7), No. 1 Arizona (15-1)

When: Today-Sunday

Where: Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium

The story: The USF softball team (10-7) travels to Tucson this weekend to participate in the University of Arizona Tournament. The three-day event marks the Bulls’ first tourney away from home this season and will feature games against Wichita State, Sam Houston State, Long Beach State and the University of Arizona.

Today, the Bulls face Wichita State (9-5) and Sam Houston State (5-7) in a doubleheader with the games scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

Day two will have the Bulls facing off against Long Beach State (8-6) in the morning before taking on tournament host and No. 1-ranked University of Arizona (15-1) at 7 p.m.

The Arizona Wildcats started the 2006 season with 15 straight wins before losing to No. 3 Texas on Feb. 26.

Arizona’s squad also features two of the nation’s most dominant pitchers in senior Alicia Hollowell and sophomore Taryne Mowatt. Hollowell is undefeated this season with an 8-0 record. She had a 0.14 ERA and has held batters to a 0.83 average. Mowatt isn’t far behind Hollowell with a 7-1 record and an ERA of 0.67.

Keep an eye on: Arizona junior Caitlin Lowe. The Wildcat outfielder leads her team in batting average (.481), hits (26) and at-bats (54) and is maintaining a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

– Eric Moeller