Can BYU take the heat?

The BYU softball players will enter Hillenbrand Stadium today to take on our Arizona Wildcats.

The question is: Will the Cougars be able to take the heat? This will be unfamiliar territory for them. They have never competed in a super regional and that alone will cause their collective body temperature to rise. Add to that a near 100 degree reading by four o'clock will have the Hillenbrand playing surface boiling over.

Just in case the Cougars are homesick, they can check the weather forecast for Salt Lake City, which includes party cloudy skies and a high of 70 degrees. To be fair, the heat is on for the Wildcats as well. The Wildcats, who share the same overall record as the Cougars at 46-11, are vulnerable and will need to hit their way to the Women's College World Series. Kenzie Fowler will battle through her injuries and will without a doubt come through with another gusty performance, but it will be the Arizona offense that will need to get the job done.

Fowler and the Wildcats shutdown BYU, 8-0, back in February, but it won't be easy for Arizona this time around. The Cougars upset No. 7 Texas in the first round of the regionals last week, while the Wildcats survived their regional with a 12th-inning, walk-off grand slam to beat visiting Hofstra.

The bats should be sizzling in this one, right along with the temperature.