Unmerciful End

Tuesday, 5/27/97 Unmerciful End SOFTBALL: Arizona runs wild over
Bruin pitching to win World Series title

By Tim Yun Daily Bruin Contributor OKLAHOMA CITY — The run for
a national championship came to a screeching halt Monday afternoon
for the UCLA softball team as No. 1 Arizona showed no mercy in its
10-2 title-game victory. It was apparent from the onset of the game
that Bruin ace Christa Williams was going to have an
uncharacteristic day in the circle. The Wildcats took advantage of
the struggling freshman pitcher, scoring two runs on a bases-loaded
single by Nancy Evans in the first inning. Arizona (61-5) got four
more in the second inning as Williams walked home two runs with the
bases loaded once again. The Wildcats went up 6-0 later that inning
after a Lety Pineda ground ball rolled under second baseman Laurie
Fritz. "From the very beginning of the game they had their short
game going, and they were able to get runners on," UCLA head coach
Sue Enquist said. "We weren’t sharp, and the first half of the game
set the tempo." In addition to her offensive prowess, Evans – the
tournament Most Outstanding Player – was also a powerful force for
Arizona in the pitching circle. After giving up back-to-back home
runs to Julie Adams and Julie Marshall in the bottom of the second
inning, Evans settled down and found her rhythm, silencing UCLA’s
offense for the rest of the game. While the Bruins’ version of
Memorial Day fireworks by Adams and Marshall helped No. 2 UCLA
(49-14) cut the Arizona lead to four, the momentum gained from that
early power display was short-lived, and the Bruins were not able
to capitalize on the opportunity to keep the inning alive. "When
you get to the end like this and crack just a little bit, they take
advantage of that and it is very difficult to come from behind
against a club like the University of Arizona," Enquist said. The
Wildcats were held scoreless in the third and fourth innings, but
with the bases loaded again in the fifth, Williams threw a wild
pitch over the head of freshman Stacey Nuveman and Arizona went up
by seven. Pineda then singled to drive home Leah O’Brien, putting
the nail in the Bruin coffin and giving the Wildcats their
third-straight national title. Despite sending the top-half of its
lineup to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, UCLA could do
nothing with its final breath and the game ended because of the
eight-run mercy rule. Not surprisingly, many UCLA team members were
overcome by disappointment. "It’s important to understand that this
team has come so far knowing what kind of adversity they had,"
Enquist said. "As a coach, I can’t be more proud of what they have
done this year and they had great individual performances. More
importantly, we played great together as a team and strived to make
UCLA great." Monday’s game marked the fifth time in seven years
that the Bruins and Wildcats have met for the national title. The
last meeting was in 1995, which resulted in a 5-2 UCLA victory.
That game, however, was recently erased in the record books after
the Bruins were forced by the NCAA to vacate their title as part of
the penalties invoked for scholarship violations that occurred that
season. * * * Friday afternoon, Arizona beat UCLA in a 14-inning
heartbreaker to give the Bruins their only loss going into the
final game. For both the Bruins and the Wildcats, however, the road
to the title game was not an easy one. Going into Sunday’s action,
the Bruins needed pair of victories over Washington in order to
avoid elimination. And as they had done so many times this year,
the Bruin bats came through in a do-or-die situation. In the first
game of the double header, the heroics of Nuveman provided the win
for the Bruins. Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the
Bruins were able to get two runners on base, setting up the
game-winning three-run home run for Nuveman, her 21st of the year.
In just one season, Nuveman broke the UCLA career home run record
of 20, previously held by Jennifer Brundage. In the nightcap
against Washington, the Bruins were able to squeak out a 1-0
victory in a pitching duel. Washington threatened in the bottom of
the seventh inning, but a game-ending double play preserved the
win. Arizona lost its opener to Fresno State but came back to take
the second game, setting up the winner-take-all game Monday
afternoon. * * * After pitching all but three innings over the
weekend, Williams was named to the All-Tournament team. She was
joined on the list by Nuveman and senior first baseman Alleah
Poulson, who played a key role in Saturday’s wins over Washington.
CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin (Left to right) Alleah Poulson, Nikki
Barbieri and Danielle Martin quietly await the presentation of
their runner-up trophy. Arizona 10, UCLA 2