Fifth-ranked Arizona defeated sixth-ranked Washington 5-2 for head coach Mike Candrea's 1,500th victory, making him the fastest coach to reach 1,500 Division I softball wins.
"It's a milestone for the entire program," said Candrea. "I've been blessed to do something I love to do."
Thirty two wins in 33 games in 2017, 1,500 wins in 1,882 career games. Candrea is the fastest coach in NCAA history, in any sport, in any division, to reach 1,500 career wins.
"Truthfully, what makes it special are the people at Arizona I've worked with over the last 32 years," added Candrea.
"This game is for him," said freshman Alyssa Palomino."It wasn't for us. We went out there and played our game, and we got this big one for him."
The Wildcats completed the sweep of the Huskies for the milestone victory, earning their first three-game sweep of a top-10 team since sweeping No. 8 Stanford in 2010.
The victory improved the Wildcats to 32-1 on the season and gave UA its first 6-0 start to conference play since 2004. Washington fell to 26-6 (3-3 Pac-12) with the loss.
Danielle O'Toole followed her Friday night no-hitter with another gem, allowing just two unearned runs on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk. O'Toole, who lowered her ERA to 0.69 with the dominant weekend, improved to 16-1 on the year.
Arizona used a pair of two-run homers to do the heavy lifting offensively. Mo Mercado's two-run shot to left got the scoring in the fourth before Alyssa Palomino hit her second home run of the series in the fifth.
