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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Amid all the softball mementos, inspirational posters, New York Yankees memorabilia and pictures of his former players’ children, Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea has a photo of a horse in his office.

His horse.

Kind of.

He’s following his namesake, a 2-year-old filly named Candrea — partially owned by local car dealers Paul Weitman and Karl Watson and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, a UA alum. Candrea finished second last weekend at the $250,000 Oak Leaf Stakes (Grade 1) at Santa Anita.

Candrea, who went off as the second favorite at 3-1 odds, and looked to have the race won before being edged out on the outside by the favored Weemissfrankie over a mile and sixteenth. Watch the video above.

Candrea could run in the Breeders’ Cup championships next month.

Weitman and Watson, along with co-owner Mike Pegram — previously had success with horses named after Arizona coaches — Da Stoops and Midnight Lute.

Candrea — the coach — said the owners named the filly without consulting him first.

“They just named it,” he said. “That’s all I know.”

Well, he does receive updates on the horse and tracks her progress on various websites. You, too, can follow along. Candrea — the horse — had wins in her first two starts.

Teresa Wilson

The offseason of change continues for the Arizona softball team, as pitching coach Teresa Wilson has resigned to pursue a head-coaching position, the school announced Friday.

(On Thursday, head coach Mike Candrea talked to TucsonCitizen.com about his new slugging transfer from Tennessee, the departure of a backup infielder and his intention to have a smaller roster in 2012.)

Wilson was at Arizona for three years, helping the team navigate to the championship round of the Women’s College World Series behind freshman pitcher Kenzie Fowler in 2010.

But offseason changes to Fowler’s pitching motion — designed in part to eliminate the illegal pitch calls that dogged her at the World Series — didn’t stick. Fowler reverted to her previous motion and was pitching well before suffering a late-season concussion that cost her playing time and conditioning at the critical part of the year.

Wilson has been a head coach for 21 years — at Oregon, Minnesota, Washington and Texas Tech.

“I’m more than pleased to have been part of Arizona softball for three seasons, but I’d like to return to having my own program,” Wilson said in a news release.

Said Candrea: “Teresa has been a great asset to our program. Her passion, knowledge of the game and work ethic have been second to none.”

Candrea said he expects to have a replacement by the end of July.

Jessica Spigner

When the Arizona Wildcats softball team was eliminated from an NCAA Super Regional, coach Mike Candrea promised change.

In less than a month, he has added a power-hitting transfer and lost a backup infielder.

The transfer is Jessica Spigner, a corner infielder from Tennessee who projects into the middle of Arizona’s lineup for the 2012 season. Spigner will have one season of eligibility at UA after hitting 38 home runs with the Vols.

“I know Arizona was a place she was interested in; she had come to some of our camps,” Candrea said Thursday afternoon.

“It just so happened that things did not work out (at Tennessee) and she was looking for a place. She has done a pretty good job of swinging the bat for Tennessee, so she brings great experience at this level.

“We could have a kid who could hit 15, 20 home runs and drive in a lot of runs.”

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Oklahoma celebrates at Hillenbrand Stadium after eliminating Arizona at an NCAA Super Regional. ESPN3 screenshot

It was 5:30 p.m., and almost all was quiet at Hillenbrand Stadium.

ESPN personnel were packing up equipment. The clean-up crew was patrolling the grounds. The Arizona sports information staff was wrapping up the unhappy news.

Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea had just left the stadium, walking across the outfield grass, past the eight national championship banners, past the spot on the right field wall that marks all 22 of the team’s appearances in the College World Series.

There won’t be any additions to those tributes in the offseason.

There won’t be any more Arizona softball this season.

“It’s agonizing,” Candrea said following a 5-2 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday that eliminated the Wildcats from the best-of-three NCAA Super Regional. “It’s agonizing.”

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Arizona's power hitters did plenty of celebrating around home plate this weekend, as Stacie Chambers did Saturday. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona Wildcats softball team did what it should have done. It took care of business in the NCAA regional this weekend, capped by a 10-2 victory over Texas Tech on Sunday.

Whether it was the Red Raiders, or New Mexico State on Saturday, or Harvard on Friday, none of the opponents had the pitching to challenge Arizona.

The Wildcats won by a combined score of 28-2. That’s the way it often is in this round of the playoffs.

But those days are over.

Arizona will take on Oklahoma this weekend in a best-of-three Super Regional at Hillenbrand Stadium. Friday’s game begins at 8:30 p.m. (ESPNU). The teams will play Saturday at 2 p.m. and, if necessary, at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)

The Sooners beat UA 11-1 in a season-opening tournament in Tempe on February. They won again, 5-3, in the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., on March 17.

Oklahoma has one of the nation’s best pitchers — hard-throwing left-hander Keilani Ricketts, who ended the regular season fourth in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings (11.5).

“From here on out,” said coach Mike Candrea, “the margin of error becomes so slim.”

With the stakes, the pressure and the competition rising, here is a look at what’s going good and what’s going bad for the Wildcats:

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The last 21 Arizona teams coach by Mike Candrea have reached the College World Series. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona softball coaching staff searched, unsuccessfully, for game tape on its first NCAA regional opponent, Harvard.

Perhaps it didn’t matter much.

“It’s more about us,” said Wildcats coach Mike Candrea.

He has spent the week — OK, most of the season, really — trying to fire up a self-described quiet team, one that has had trouble maintaining a high level of emotion and intensity.

If not now, when?

The postseason starts tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium.

“Anybody who walks into that ballpark, wearing that uniform, without the energy we need should not be in it,” Candrea said. “If you can’t get yourself ready to play a regional in Hillenbrand Stadium right now, then we have issues.”

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Kenzie Fowler hugs coach Mike Candrea after the Wildcats beat Tennessee at the College World Series last season. ESPN3.com screenshot

Through the wins and losses, the ups and downs, the main goal of the Arizona softball season has been to make sure sophomore pitcher Kenzie Fowler was in good shape for the postseason … and then turn her loose.

How has that worked out?

We’ll find out Friday when the Wildcats take on Harvard at 6:30 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium in the first round of a double-elimination NCAA regional.

“Right now, I think she’s in a good frame of mind, and, for me, that’s the most important thing,” coach Mike Candrea said.

“The only thing I can really control is to make sure we’re in a good mindset.”

The frame of mind is one thing. Fowler’s physical health is another.

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