That’s softball.

Taylor McQuillin, Jessie Harper, and coach Mike Candrea all said the same thing after Friday night’s 2-1 loss to No. 3 Washington at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium.

The sixth-ranked Wildcats (40-9, 17-2 Pac-12) have only dropped two games since losing to Florida State March 10 in a 4-3 game in UA’s last loss to a top-five team.

Friday night’s game closely resembled that loss with the Wildcats leaving nine runners on base in both games.

Jessie Harper hit a single bringing home Hannah Martinez to score Arizona’s only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh. The Wildcats then had runners on first and second base with catcher and five-hole hitter Dejah Mulipola at the plate, but not before Washington changed pitchers.

Mulipola went down on three straight pitches to end the game on a strike out.

“We just weren’t allowing the ball to travel and go to the opposite field with her,” Candrea said. “So we're out in front a lot so that’s why we hit a lot of balls off the end of the bat and a lot of weak ground balls. At this stage of the game when you have three at bats you have to make adjustments and I’m really happy the last inning that we had some opportunities.

“It’s tough to win when you leave that many runners on base.”

McQuillin had a strong start to the game and did not allow a hit through the first two innings. In the third she found herself in some trouble when Washington’s Sis Bates singled to center field before Morganne Flores hit a home run off the batter’s eye to bring Bates home.

The senior pitcher allowed only one hit the rest of the game after the home run from Flores.

“My curve ball wasn’t really working too much today especially when an umpire’s not really giving you the inside part of the plate and you’re struggling with an outside pitch to lefties – they had seven of them,” McQuillin said. “It makes it a little bit more challenging but I was able to use some of my other pitches to get out of situations. I think that helps a lot.”

Although McQuillin had the hiccup in the third inning and did not have all of her pitches working, Harper feels the offense needs to do more to match what she was giving the Wildcats in the circle.

“I think we did a good job on defense as far as backing up Taylor, but we just have to step it up hitting wise. We can’t have our pitcher throwing an amazing game like she was and then her give a run then we have to come back and do it for her. So I think that’s kind of where we missed out today. We didn’t have that punch back that we needed to.” Harper said the Wildcats knew they were not going to be able to rely on their home run power in the series with Washington so a one-run game Friday night was not a surprise to the Arizona shortstop.

“I’m not disappointed with the way we played,” Candrea said. “Not often do you out hit someone – they had two errors we had none – and come out on the losing end of it but that’s softball.

“So we gotta reset, come out tomorrow and get after it.”

The series continues Saturday with Arizona hoping they will make a comeback and even things up in the second meeting with the Huskies.

First pitch for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 1 p.m.