The Big 12 has gone out of its way to try to account for weather in its scheduling. Most of the first half of the conference season has been played on the home fields of warm-weather programs like Arizona, Texas Tech, and Arizona State. Cold weather programs like Iowa State, Kansas, and Utah were set to host series later in the season.
Those allowances for weather weren’t something the Pac-12 built into its schedule. Games were scheduled with a nod to competitive balance. It often made things difficult
when the Wildcats were sent to Seattle during the rainiest part of the season or Utah when it was snowing.
“You’re telling me, man,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe. “I mean, we can say that now, but it just was luck of the draw what weekend we got.”
The allowances for weather meant the Wildcats spent all but two weekends at home over the first five Big 12 series. Those two weekends were spent in Orlando and Lubbock to play UCF and Texas Tech, respectively. Now, they spend two conference and one nonconference weekend away from Hillenbrand Stadium.
As Lowe pointed out, though, that doesn’t mean weather isn’t still an issue in the Big 12. That is obvious this weekend.
The Wildcats and Iowa State Cyclones had to push their games back this week. The series was scheduled for one game per day, Thursday through Saturday. Then came the forecasts.
Ames is supposed to get rain on Thursday and Friday. The temperatures are supposed to range from lows in the mid 30s to highs in the low 50s. That’s too cold and wet for softball.
The games will now be played as a doubleheader on Sunday at 11 a.m. MST and 1 p.m. MST. The final game will be on Monday, Apr. 6 at 11 a.m. MST. All three will stream on ESPN+
The change in Iowa has repercussions for next week, too. Arizona will travel directly from Ames to Baton Rouge, LA to play a three-game series against LSU starting Friday, Apr. 10. The Wildcats initially intended to return to Tucson first.
