Stacie Chambers is 16 home runs from becoming the greatest slugger in the history of NCAA Division I softball.
The way she's swinging the bat, it feels like she could get there in a weekend.
After starting the season 3 for 17, the Arizona Wildcats catcher has 16 hits in her past 29 at-bats.
Seven are home runs.
She has driven home 24 runs during that stretch.
"She has become the player I always felt she could be," said coach Mike Candrea, whose UA team hosts the Wildcat Invitational starting today.
"I feel like, right now, she's finally balancing the mental part of the game with the physical part of the game.
"She's a little more mature, a little smarter and a little more under control all the time. And good things are happening to her."
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Part of Chambers' maturity is tuning out distractions, including the record chase.
Her 75 career homers are seventh all time, one behind former UA star Jenny Dalton, and 10 short of the school record held by Leah Braatz and Laura Espinoza.
UCLA's Stacey Nuveman holds the career record at 90.
"It's a great honor to be on the same list as those people," the Glendale native said, "but I don't really pay a whole lot of attention to it."
Chambers enters the Wildcat Invitational with a ridiculous 1.000 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage.
She still fights a vision issue, a side effect of a November 2006 brain injury.
Chambers lowers her batting helmet sometimes to try to force her eyes down, or opening her Will Clark-like stance so she can stare at the pitcher with both eyes.
And she still does regular vision therapy to stay sharp.
"It's not that I don't see the ball," the senior said. "It's that my eyes don't track the movement fast enough. I feel like I lose it and pick it up at the last second."
She continues to catch almost every inning; Chambers has started at catcher 135 times over the past two-plus seasons. She has served as the UA's designated player only 10 times.
Candrea said he would like to see Chambers star against league foes, not just the lesser teams the UA plays in the early part of the season. Chambers hit .393 with seven homers in 21 games last year, but Candrea thinks she can do better.
"I think she's got a different mindset right now," Candrea said.
"I think she's much healthier, physically, mentally and emotionally."
Chambers said that at the end of the year, she'll look toward the chase for the record fondly.
Just not now.
"It would be the fact, knowing that I worked hard to get there," she said. "But it's not something I put thought into every single day."
Most career NCAA Div. I home runs
Player, School (Years) Gms HR
1. Stacey Nuveman, UCLA (1997, 99, 2001-02) 264 90
2T. Leah Braatz, Arizona (1994-95, 97-98) 271 85
2T. Laura Espinoza, Arizona (1992-95) 251 85
4. Danyele Gomez, Louisiana-Lafayette (2003-06) 249 83
5. Kristen Rivera, Washington (2002-05) 244 79
6. Jenny Dalton, Arizona (1993-96) 251 76
7. Stacie Chambers, Arizona (2008-present) 205 75
8. Jaime Clark, Washington (2000-03) 261 73
9t. Holly Tankersley, Louisiana-Lafayette (2005-08) 247 71
9t. Stephanie Best, Central Florida (2002-05) 272 71
Wildcat Invitational
Arizona's tournament schedule at Hillenbrand Stadium
• Today: Arizona vs. Utah State, 3 p.m.; Arizona vs. Portland State, 5 p.m.
• Sunday: Arizona vs. Minnesota, 3 p.m.; Arizona vs. Idaho State, 5 p.m.
• Monday: Arizona vs. UC-Riverside, 1 p.m.
For the full schedule, see Page B9
