Arizona knows what it feels like to be up in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Softball Tournament, and it also knows that doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. It last happened in 2017 when the Wildcats beat Baylor before faltering in the next two games. That was only one season after UA took a 1-0 lead on Auburn in a Super Regional matchup on the road.

Mike Candrea isn't going to let his sixth-ranked UA squad get ahead of itself, but after Friday's game against No. 11 Ole Miss the Wildcats are certainly in the driver's seat heading into the rest of the weekend.

The Rebels looked to be in control early in the game, but eventually UA settled down and its bats came alive to finish off Ole Miss, 5-2. Arizona had an answer for early runs by the Rebels in the first and second innings before putting up two runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the game out of reach.

UA added another run in the fifth inning setting up senior pitcher Taylor McQuillin for a strong finish.

Arizona didn't rely on its power in Friday's game as it had 12 hits and only two of them were extra base hits. Both of those extra base hits came from third baseman Malia Martinez who finished her day by going 4 for 4 with a pair of doubles and a pair of RBIs.

"I wasn't trying to do anything too crazy," Martinez said about her big day at the plate. "Just keeping it simple and taking the pressure off myself knowing my teammates have my back no matter what."

The Rebels took the lead twice early in the game and had all the control while the Wildcats looked to be a bit caught off guard by the start for Ole Miss. The game switched in the middle innings when UA was able to start stringing together some offense resulting in a shift in momentum that the Wildcats would never give back.

"Their short game got us a little bit fast, mentally, that first couple innings, but we settled down and got some key hits," Candrea said. "I thought Taylor got stronger as the game went on, so we'll take it and get ready for tomorrow."

McQuillin faced 18 batters in the first three innings as she had to work out of some jams throughout the early part of the game especially in the third inning when Ole Miss was able to load the bases. The UA senior came back and struck out the final batter of the inning to end the threat and take away the momentum that had been in the Rebels' favor.

She eventually had four more scoreless innings and was barely challenged the rest of the game in the circle.

"Exactly what coach said, we just let the game get quick on us," McQuillin said. "They got the leadoff batter on and then they started running around and doing Ole Miss-type things. For me it was, 'I need to keep them off the bases so we can keep this rolling.' I think that as the game did go on it's always nice to go out when you have a two-run lead and then get an extra cushion with another run.

"I think I got stronger because my team got stronger and that's really what it is at the end of the day."

Part of what derailed Ole Miss, which was speeding up the game with steals during its time at the plate, were mistakes on defense that allowed the Wildcats to score a couple of unearned runs taking some of the air out of the Rebels dugout.

"Kudos to Arizona's game plan if that was their game plan to put the ball on the ground," Ole Miss head coach Mike Smith said. "They did a great job. We rushed some throws and I thought we played a close ball game. We kind of made some uncharacteristic defensive mishaps, made some bad decisions, didn't get in front of some balls and at this stage of the year good teams are gonna take advantage of that.

"That's what Arizona did today to us. They beat us today."

Now Arizona's attention will turn to Saturday's game that is set to begin at 5:05 p.m. MST. Win that one and UA will play in its first Women's College World Series since 2010. Candrea doesn't want his team to concern himself with that task since he and several of UA's players understand the team has been in this position before and not come through.

For now, the focus is on Saturday and earning another win regardless of what a victory would mean for his Wildcats.

"Our body of work has been done," he said. "The one thing I've really stressed with this group is learning how to handle the big moment and being able to control that. I don't live in the past, never will, otherwise I probably wouldn't be coaching. I think that's for you guys to write about and remind me of it, but truthfully I forgot about it a long time ago. Right now, it's today and what we're doing today."