Mike Candrea Makes History With 1,458 Wins

Mike Candrea Makes History With 1,458 Wins

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Arizona softball head coach Mike Candrea won his 1,458th career game, surpassing legendary Fresno State coach Margie Wright for second i

Apr 17, 2016 by Chez Sievers
Mike Candrea Makes History With 1,458 Wins
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Arizona softball head coach Mike Candrea won his 1,458th career game, surpassing legendary Fresno State coach Margie Wright for second in NCAA history, as Arizona defeated Stanford 6-1 on Saturday.

Candrea, in his 31st year of coaching – just 29 of which count toward his career record, is now chasing Michigan’s Carol Hutchins for the NCAA record. Hutchins, who has coached for 34-plus years, broke Wright’s long-standing record two weeks ago. Candrea currently trails Hutchins by five victories.

Arizona scored five runs with two out in the top of the third inning, which would be more than enough for Taylor McQuillin, who pitched the Wildcats to a 6-1 win at Stanford on Saturday.

Taylor McQuillin was brilliant for Arizona, allowing one run on four hits in the complete game. She struck out nine Cardinal batters in the outing.

Arizona scored five runs over the span of three batters in the third inning and then was held hitless the remainder of the game. Mandie Perez and Joelle Krist each hit home runs in the game. They led the Arizona offense with two hits apiece.

The victory was Arizona’s seventh straight win, matching its season-long winning streak. It assured Arizona of its seventh straight series win over the Cardinal. UA will go for its third straight sweep of Stanford on Sunday.

Ashleigh Hughes and Alexis Dotson each extended career-long hitting streaks to eight games in the five-run second. Hughes singled and Dotson registered a two-run double.

The Wildcats took the lead two pitches into the game when Mandie Perez pulled her ninth homer of the season to right for a leadoff homer.

Arizona plated five two-out runs in the third. After loading the bases with no one out, UA didn’t score until Tamara Statman got the scoring going with an RBI groundout. Alexis Dotson followed with a two-run double and scored on Joelle Krist’s two-run homer to left. Krist, a native of nearby Petaluma, had dozens of friends and family in attendance to cheer on her fourth career homer.

Stanford cut into the lead with Kayla Bonstrom’s RBI double in the fifth.


Information provided courtesy of Arizona Athletics.


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