Mike Candrea appreciates how Andy Lopez revamped the culture of the baseball program. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea, an ardent baseball fan who knows a few things about winning national championships, appreciated how the Wildcats went about winning the Men’s College World Series.

“Business-like,” Candrea said earlier this week at the on-campus celebration of the UA baseball team’s national title.

“You could kind of see it when they were in regionals, and then in Super Regionals; things were kind of rolling. It was just fun to watch because I never saw any panic. Just very business-like, under control, having fun. All the things that you want to see were there.

“They made it look easy.”

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Mike Candrea watches the NCAA tournament selection show from his home Sunday night. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona softball team, after an uneven season and facing a difficult path to the Women’s College World Series, will enter the NCAA tournament with plenty of questions.

Coach Mike Candrea wants his players to consider only one.

“Why not us?”

Arizona is seeded 13th in the postseason and will be host a four-team, double-elimination regional at Hillenbrand Stadium beginning Friday.

WAC regular season champion Hawaii is expected to provide the toughest competition for Arizona. Notre Dame will take on Hawaii at 2:30 p.m. Friday, followed by Arizona vs. North Dakota State at 5 p.m. ESPNU will telecast all the regional games from Tucson.

If Arizona advances to the Super Regional, it likely will have to travel at play at fourth-seeded Oklahoma, the team that eliminated the Wildcats in this round of last year’s tournament. The Sooners still have pitching star Keilani Ricketts.

But back to that question: Why not us?

Said senior outfield Karissa Buchanan: “It’s a great question.”

Candrea, always searching for a postseason theme, came across that one last week after assistant coach Stacy Iveson showed the team ESPN’s “30 for 30″ special on the 2004 Boston Red Sox, which rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the New York Yankees.

Pitcher Curt Schilling helped lead the “Why not us?” rallying cry for those Red Sox, which went on to win the World Series under manager Terry Francona, a former Arizona Wildcat star outfielder.

After the team watched the video last Wednesday, Candrea arranged for Francona to walk through the clubhouse door.

“It was awesome,” Buchanan said.

“Watching him on the video and then seeing him walk through the door, it was like, ‘Wow.’ We were all surprised. It was really cool.”

Francona, who has relocated to Tucson following his dismissal from the Red Sox after last season, talked to the softball team for about 30 minutes.

“It was basically about respect the game you’re playing, whether it’s baseball or softball,” said Francona, who had two daughters play softball at North Carolina.

“You’re there for your teammates and you all have to be going in the same direction. You’re not pointing fingers. … I let them ask questions, and it was fun for me, too.”

Arizona finished the regular season at 35-17 overall and 12-12 in the Pac-12, tied for fourth. The team batting average of .298 is only seventh among the nine teams in the league. The team ERA of 2.95 is only fifth.

There is seemingly less reason to believe in these Wildcats entering the postseason than any UA squad since before Arizona won its first of eight national titles in 1991.

“One of the challenges we’ve had all year is getting our players, in my eyes, to really believe they can get it done,” Candrea said.

“I think they faked it pretty good at times, but I want kids who are going to go out there and compete, lay it all on the table. I think the big thing about this game is you have to care a lot about it.

“Right now, today, this team cares a little bit more about this game than they did two weeks ago. And, so, I’m optimistic that you’re going to see their best effort put forward.”

So, Candrea will continue to ask: Why not us?

“Do we have some dents in our armor? Do we go into postseason where I’m feeling really good about everything? Probably not? But it is what it is right now, and we’ll do our part to bring that all together and maybe get some kids to overachieve and get back to that competitive mode.”

NCAA REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Game 1 — Friday, 2:30 p.m.: Hawaii vs. Notre Dame
Game 2 — Friday, 5 p.m., Arizona vs. North Dakota State
Game 3 — Saturday, 3 p.m.: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 — Saturday, 5:30 p.m.: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Game 5 — Saturday, 8 p.m.: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Game 6 — Sunday, 2:30 p.m.: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Game 7 — Sunday, 5 p.m.: Repeat Game 6, if necessary

Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea, a dogged New York Yankees fan who has a room in his house dedicated to Mickey Mantle memorabilia, needed the help of a former Boston Red Sox manager this week.

He said assistant coach Stacy Iveson wanted to show the team “Four Days in October” — ESPN’s 30 for 30 special about the 2004 Red Sox, which won four consecutive games in the American League Championship Series after being down 0-3 to the Yankees.

(This is something Iveson also used as motivation when she was head coach at Yavapai Community College last season.)

Candrea took the idea a step further and said, “Why don’t we bring in Terry Francona to talk to the team?”

And so he did.

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Mike Candrea is closing in on 1,300 victories at Arizona. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea was back on the job Thursday, his sense of humor intact.

“I’m on the right side of the grass,” he said with a grin. “So things are good.”

Having been told there’s nothing wrong with his heart after being hospitalized for two nights because of chest pain, Candrea was able to smile while taking seriously the stress-related symptoms and lifestyle choices that apparently led to the scare.

“Definitely, a little wake-up call,” he said.

“Sometimes when you’re grinding and you’re lacking a little sleep and not eating well and not drinking enough water … all that stuff kind of combines.

“I always talk about not taking any day for granted and living each day like it’s your last, and when you’re sitting there and you have a lot of people worried, including yourself, you wonder, ‘Have I overdone it.’ It makes you think a little bit.”

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Brigette Del Ponte

Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea, who had been hospitalized for two days after complaining about chest pain, sent a text to his players and staff on Tuesday morning.

Most importantly, it said he was OK, resting comfortably, able to go home.

And then Candrea, apropos of someone who just had a health scare, left a message for his team to take into its home game against San Diego State:

“Play for the moment.”

The Wildcats — buoyed by Candrea’s positive health news and playing to win one for their absent coach — defeated San Diego State 8-0 in a five-inning mercy-rule game in front of 2,360 at Hillenbrand Stadium on Tuesday night.

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Mike Candrea's team has five home games this week. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea passed a cardiac stress test Monday afternoon at University Medical Center a day after being hospitalized with chest pain and stress-related symptoms, assistant coach Larry Ray said.

He was set to undergo another test Monday night and could be released Tuesday morning, if all goes well, according to a UA official.

Ray said the team is preparing to be without Candrea for a two-game series against San Diego State that begins Tuesday at Hillenbrand Stadium at 7 p.m. The teams also play Wednesday at 3 p.m.

The Wildcats begin a three-game home set against Stanford on Friday.

“We’re hoping he’s back for the Stanford series,” Ray said. “If not, it’s still game on.”

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Mike Candrea has been the Arizona softball head coach since 1986, winning eight national titles. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea was being transported to Tucson’s University Medical Center on Sunday night for further observation after being hospitalized with chest pain in the Phoenix area, assistant coach Larry Ray said.

Candrea was expected to remain at UMC at least overnight.

Candrea left Arizona’s game against Arizona State in Tempe and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital Sunday afternoon.

“He was experiencing some dizziness and some chest pain,” Ray said in a phone interview at about 7:30 p.m.

“They think it was stress-related symptoms. Right now, that’s about all I know.”

Ray, who had been getting updates from Candrea’s wife, Tina, said the hospital staff performed an EKG exam on Candrea, which showed no problems.

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Andy Lopez's team was 39-21 last season.

Suggesting a big spring on the diamond for Arizona, the Wildcats baseball team is ranked No. 5 in the preseason, while the softball team is ranked eighth in the country in polls released Tuesday.

Baseball America tabbed Arizona fifth, behind No. 1 Florida, Stanford, South Carolina and Arkansas. Coach Andy Lopez is hoping to ride a strong pitching staff, led by junior Kurt Heyer (8-5, 2.41 ERA), to a home postseason berth at the team’s new digs, Hi Corbett Field.

Mike Candrea’s softball team is trying to get back to the Women’s College World Series after losing in the Super Regionals last year.

Based on the No. 8 ranking from the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason poll, the Wildcats will be good enough to get back to Oklahoma City.

Much will depend on junior pitcher Kenzie Fowler, who was 26-8 with a 1.76 ERA last season after leading Arizona to the championship round of the World Series in 2010.

Defending champ Arizona State starts at No. 1 in the poll.

As usual, the Pac-12 is well represented. Cal is third, Stanford 10th, Oregon 11th, UCLA 13th and Washington 14th.

Mike Candrea is more comfortable with a small roster. 2009 Tucson Citizen photo

As promised, Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea made significant cuts to the roster after fall practice, paring his team to 15 players.

Among the cuts were four players who were on the roster last season — senior first baseman Alicia Banks, sophomore infielder Ashlee Brawley, junior outfielder Becca Tikey and catcher Shannon Tinlsey.

Among those, Brawley, a walk-on from Cienega High School, saw the most playing time. She appeared in 23 games, starting 15 at shortstop, where starter Chelsea Suitos missed almost the entire season because of injury. Brawley batted .270.

“This is something that we built up to. Everybody knew,” Candrea said of his plan to shorten his roster. “We talked about it at the end of last season. We had it on our calendars — the day it was going to happen.

“I’m very sensitive to it, obviously. You don’t like to do that. … There were some hard decisions, but there was a lot that went into it. It wasn’t something that was just done like that,” Candrea added, snapping his fingers.

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Mike Candrea says he will have more live competition in the fall as he sorts out his roster. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona Wildcats softball team begins its fall schedule Sunday afternoon amid fierce competition for roster spots.

Coach Mike Candrea told the team after last season — in which the Wildcats failed to advance to the Women’s College World Series for the first time under Candrea since the 1987 season — that he would carry a smaller roster this season.

He had 20 players last season, generally preferring a smaller core of players, which makes it easier to define roles, manage practice reps and find a collective team personality.

He won’t put a final number on it, but he will make cuts after fall practice ends. Arizona has 24 players — including three walk-ons — for its game Sunday against Pima Community College at Hillenbrand Stadium at 2 p.m.

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