The Christmas party comes early this year.
UA shortstop Kristie Fox and LSU's Emily Turner and Vanessa Soto will be foes tonight when the Wildcats begin their best-of-three super regional series against LSU at 5 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium.
There was a time when it took a Christmas party for them to get together.
All three were members of the San Diego Renegades, a traveling team coached by Fox's father.
Every year, the team has a reunion around the holidays. The team gathers at a former teammate's house, has a pot luck dinner and catches up on each other's success in the college game. Fox and Soto go most every year.
"Not only are we good friends, but our parents are good friends," said Soto, a second baseman. "It's nice for everybody to hear about everyone's stories."
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Growing up in San Diego's North County, Fox and Soto have been friends since they were 8 years old. Turner, tonight's starting pitcher, met Fox when they played against each other in an under-10 all-star game.
Fox attended University of San Diego High School her freshman year, where she spent time with Turner. Fox then transferred to Mount Carmel High School for her final three years, where she teamed with —you guessed it — Soto.
"We always go and look at each other's stats and see how they're doing, how their season is going," said Fox, who is second on the team with a .395 batting average and is tied for the team lead with 13 home runs.
Fox and Soto remain very close. That familiarity might be an advantage for the No. 15 seed Tigers.
Whereas many teams come to second-seeded Arizona and see an intimidating monolith, the two Tigers see an old friend.
"Everybody says, 'Oh, Arizona, Arizona, Arizona,'" Turner said. "They're human. It's like, 'I've played with them before.'"
LSU coach Yvette Girouard said: "I think that's gotta be a positive for us."
Turner, who transferred to a different high school after her sophomore year, has been dominant this season, posting a 27-7 record with an 0.83 ERA.
Fox has known Turner for 10 years, so it's safe to say she has a scouting report.
"I do know some things I'm going to pass along to my team," she said coyly. "But I'm not going to just tell anyone."
Inside pitch
● UA hurler Alicia Hollowell will pitch today on six days' rest, and that's not good news for LSU.
Hollowell, a senior, has been dominant the other two times she has had that kind of time off this season. Thirteen days after being hit in the face by a Texas comebacker, Hollowell allowed one run and five hits in a complete-game victory against Oregon.
On April 30 — after six days of rest — she threw a no-hitter against Washington.
● Chelsie Mesa seems to have figured it out.
Between April 7 and the first game of the UA's April 30 doubleheader, the second baseman went 1 for 29 over 10 games. Since then, Mesa has gone 16 for 34 while hitting safely in 11 of 12 games. She had two homers in last weekend's regionals.
● The Wildcats and the Tigers played eight common opponents this season — Washington, Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA, Auburn, Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas Tech. The UA is 15-4 against those teams; LSU is 10-5.
● Left fielder Autumn Champion was named to the Pac-10 All-Academic second team Thursday. The senior elementary education major has a 3.41 GPA.
NCAA tournament
● What: Softball super regional
● Who: Arizona vs. LSU
● Where: Hillenbrand Stadium
● When: Best-of-three series; 5 p.m. today, 6 p.m. Saturday and, if necessary, 8:30 p.m. Saturday
● TV: ESPNU, call your cable or satellite provider for more information
