The University of Arizona

 

UA Victory Leads to 20th Women's College World Series Appearance

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Arizona has been to every series but one since 1988.


By University Communications
May 27, 2008

The University of Arizona's edge in home runs fueled victory over the University of Oklahoma with a 5-2 win at the NCAA Softball Championships Super Regional. The victory in Tucson on Saturday sends the UA’s women’s softball team to its 20th Women's College World Series appearance.

Arizona junior third baseman Jenae Leles had the first and last home runs of the contest in the third game of the best-of-three series.

Pitching ensured Arizona’s survival with Taryne Mowatt (29-13) working her way out of eight Oklahoma hits and a pair of Sooner home runs. She struck out six and walked two, defeating OU starter D.J. Mathis (31-7).

The Sooners finished their season at 47-14. Arizona moves on with a 41-17 record.

The Wildcats get a chance to defend their reign as two-time defending NCAA titlists, having won in 2006 and 2007. Arizona will play longtime WCWS nemesis UCLA in its World Series opener, in Game 4, with first pitch at 8 p.m. Central Daylight Time (6 p.m. Tucson time). The game and every game of the Women’s College World Series will be shown live on ESPN from the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

The win versus Oklahoma was a closely contested affair. Arizona came on strong with a 3-1 victory on Friday and battled back in game three after a 2-0 OU win earlier Saturday.

As game three began, Mathis, the Oklahoma pitcher who had forced Game 3 with a Game 2 shutout, appeared in control again. The 2,570 fans in attendance were quiet as Mathis easily gained two outs in the first.

But before the inning was over, the crowd had rallied to their feet as Arizona hit back-to-back home runs showing that they were not going to go out easy.

Arizona’s Leles launched a homer onto the roof of neighboring Gittings Gym, giving the Cats a 1-0 lead. Her 16th home run of the year easily traveled 245 feet and disappeared over a 40-foot-tall building. "That was the biggest hit of my career," Leles said.

Arizona’s Callista Balko hit her 15th home run of the season to the opposite field in right-center with two outs in the top of the sixth to give the UA a little breathing room. It gave the UA 93 home runs on the year, tying the 1994 and 2002 teams for the third most in the University’s history behind the 2001 team’s 126 and the 1995 team’s 100 home runs.

Leles followed a hit by Adrienne Acton, a fielder's choice by Brittany Lastrapes, with another homer in the top of the seventh to give the UA the 5-2 lead.

Mowatt gave up a hit in the seventh, a one-out double by Amber Flores, but got a strikeout and a popup to end the game. The victory was Mowatt’s 100th in her career at Arizona.

"The feeling never gets old," she said about going to the World Series. "That second home run by Jenae was a big relief. The defense today was huge. I didn't know about the 100th victory until coach Ray handed me the ball after the game," Mowatt said.

"Our game plan was to try to pitch around Leles if we could. I'm proud of the girls' effort to come in here and play well. I'm really impressed with Arizona's power," said Oklahoma’s coach, Patti Gasso.

"I feel great, and am very happy for the kids, the fans and the city of Tucson. Taryne was running out of gas, but she grinded it out and I'm very proud of her. I'm happy for the seniors, and proud of Jenae's defense and power," Arizona coach Larry Ray said.

Arizona, UCLA and ASU of the Pac-10 all are on the same side of the bracket in the first-day evening session of the world series. The WCWS opens with a pair of games at noon and 2 p.m. featuring top-seed Florida and Louisiana-Lafayette in Game 1 and Texas A&M-Virginia Tech in Game 2.

The winner of the Arizona-UCLA game will play the winner of the Alabama-ASU game on Friday. The losers meet on Saturday in an elimination game.

 

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© 2008 Arizona Board of Regents