Teammates surround Stacie Chambers (21) after her homer against the Canadian National Team on Wednesday night.

KeLLY presnell / arizona daily star

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Ten games and two weeks into the season, the Arizona Wildcats have found some answers to their preseason softball questions.

Here's a look:

1Stacie Chambers is for real. The sophomore — who missed last season after fouling a ball off her face during fall practice — is the UA's regular designated player and occasional catcher.

She has slugged .867, about 200 points higher than any teammate with at least 15 at-bats.

She has hit four homers in 30 at-bats.

"I thought coming out last year she was the best-hitting freshman that I had seen in the country," UA interim coach Larry Ray said.

"She's capable."

2No one is Caitlin Lowe, but Brittany Lastrapes is pretty good. The freshman left fielder has led off nine times in the UA's 10 games, and is batting .306.

Lastrapes is not a slap hitter like Lowe and does not have her speed.

But, by taking full swings, Lastrapes is a constant threat for extra-base hits.

"I feel like I'm fitting in," she said.

3The UA has played good teams. The Wildcats are only 6-4, but they lost both games of a Kajikawa Classic doubleheader on Feb. 17 to No. 7 Northwestern and No. 3 Texas A&M.

Last week, the Wildcats defeated No. 10 Baylor 12-0 and No. 6 LSU 7-4.

The UA has dropped from No. 1 to No. 8 in the NFCA/USA Today poll and No. 10 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com poll.

4Sam Banister is pretending it is May. As a freshman in 2006, she hit .215; she hovered near there last year until putting together a 13-game hitting streak to end the season, including a .304 batting average in the Women's College World Series.

"Last year was a tremendous boost for her confidence with what she did in the postseason," Ray said. "It's carried over. She's actually become a team leader and is doing the things we need for her to help this team out."

Banister has simplified her swing, learning how not to pull off the ball and keeping her hands more still as she awaits a pitch. She regularly bats third.

"I'm just seeing the ball a lot better," she said. "I think it's just my confidence coming from last year."

5The Wildcats still have questions. Victoria Kemp and Sarah Akamine are battling for playing time at second base; neither has impressed, with Kemp hitting .211 and Akamine .091. In the right field battle, Lauren Schutzler is hitting .467, while Cyndi Duran is at .400.

"Whoever's getting on base and doing their job is going to be the ones in the lineup," Ray said.