Last weekend Arizona traveled to Utah where the elevation and weather is at a different extreme than what the Wildcats are used to playing in.

Elevation and cold weather were some of the challenges Arizona faced while they were continuing their win streak that now sits at 14 games heading into this weekend’s series against GCU.

These conditions did not seem to get in their way as they reached a season high of 22 runs on 19 hits during their second game and outscored the Utes 48-3 overall throughout the series.

When asked about how he keeps his team focused during their win streak head coach Mike Candrea kept it simple.

“Well we don’t talk about it,” he said. “I think a lot of it is a consistent approach that they have and they’re a good enough team that they can put runs on the board and they can pitch.”

He also believes that the consistency is a reflection of the maturity his team demonstrates.

“A pitcher is going to have to beat us versus us beating ourselves,” Candrea said.

The Wildcats have four different players with double-digit home runs so far this season: Jessie Harper (21), Dejah Mulipola (16), Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza (13), Malia Martinez (10).

Martinez is hitting .368 in conference play this season and said she is learning from the past in order to improve her game.

“The experience from last year and learning from mistakes and trying to do a better job as I am now an upperclassman.” she said.

Her experience with seeing more live pitching has made her more comfortable at the plate.

Martinez is just one of the UA players having success through the current winning streak that has left the Wildcats unbeaten in conference play and she believes using the attack mentality the team has adopted is a big part of the positive results over the last several weeks. She believes the skills are there but having that mentality going into each game is an important key to winning.

Starting pitcher Taylor McQuillin said she has high expectations for herself because offensively her team has been giving her plenty of run support.

“If my team is going to score ten runs well I don’t want to let anyone on base because that’s my job and they’re doing theirs really well,” she said.

Within the last week the Wildcats have started four different pitchers, but all the pieces coming together have been a big contributor to the streak.

“When we’re pitching well and we’re hitting well and we’re playing good defense then we should have a pretty good opportunity to win a game,” Candrea said.

Next up for Arizona is a road trip this weekend to Grand Canyon University’s Stapleton-Pierson Stadium for the first time in program history. With a win against No. 1 Florida State under GCU’s belt, the ‘Cats anticipate a competitive series.

“They’re not a team we take lightly,” she said. “They are also an Arizona team so it’s nice to get the competition that’s in Arizona.”

Up to this point Arizona remains a perfect 9-0 on the road this year. First pitch for Friday’s series opener against GCU is set for 5 p.m.