Arizona softball opens up the NCAA Regional tomorrow night at Hillenbrand Stadium against New Mexico State, while South Carolina takes on St. Francis of Pennsylvania. The double elimination, round robin format will enable one team to advance to following weekend's super regional.
Freshman Alyssa Palomino showed up to practice on Thursday wearing a knee brace and crutches. She is questionable for the regional with a knee injury. Palomino missed last season with a torn ACL.
If anyone knows about post-season softball, it's Arizona head coach Mike Candrea, who's team is making its 31st consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
"Most of time in post-season, it's not your big names that make a difference," said Candrea. "it's sometimes the bottom of your order that will have the at-bat or two at-bats or great steal or whatever it may be. And, so I think it's a time of the year where you see new heros being developed each and every day at every regional."
The Wildcats are the tournament's number two overall seed, and should be well rested, as they are coming off a bye week. Arizona has a 48-7 record. The Wildcats beat the Aggies, 8-0 and 11-1, in a doubleheader at Las Cruces on April 18th.
