The No. 3 Arizona softball team won two of three games this weekend while visiting their Pacific 10 Conference Bay Area rivals, nearly pulling out a sweep.
The Wildcats (34-8, 5-5 Pac-10) won their first two games of the weekend, beating No. 5 Stanford (33-10, 6-6) on Friday 4-1 and then outlasting No. 6 California (38-8, 6-5) on Saturday 4-2 in 13 innings before losing to California 5-1 yesterday.
After the two solid wins, Arizona left the Bay Area on a sour note by failing to get the sweep.
Senior ace Alicia Hollowell did not fare as well as she did in her win on Friday, lasting only five innings and getting roughed up for seven hits and four runs. Despite having 10 strikeouts and only one walk, Hollowell (17-4) received the loss.
The Bears scored all the runs they needed in the first inning when they mounted a three- run attack. The Wildcats’ bats were asleep for the majority of the game, scoring only one run in the fifth inning after a promising rally.
Senior pitcher Leslie Wolfe entered the game in relief and pitched one scoreless inning, striking out one batter.
Saturday’s matchup against California was the longest game of the year for Arizona, a marathon that could have been classified as two games. It lasted 13 innings and was nearly four hours long.
After the Golden Bears tied the score 2-2 in the fourth inning, it remained that way until the 13th inning, when junior shortstop Kristie Fox hit her second home run of the weekend, a two-run shot that put the Wildcats ahead 4-2 en route to the victory.
Junior center fielder Caitlin Lowe led off the game with a single and stole second base before freshman third baseman Janae Leles hit her sixth home run of the year to make it 2-0, Arizona’s final runs until Fox’s homer.
Sophomore pitcher Taryne Mowatt (17-4) pitched a complete game, even though it lasted 13 innings. The reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week gave up one earned run on eight hits and struck out 16, an Arizona single-game high for the season.
California senior pitcher Kristina Thorson (26-6) struck out 22 Arizona batters in her 13 innings pitched despite receiving the loss.
In game one of the weekend, the Cardinal took a 1-0 lead in the third inning and held it until the sixth inning, when Fox hit her eighth home run of the year, a three-run blast. In the seventh, sophomore catcher Callista Balko hit a solo shot, her sixth of the year, to put away Stanford for good.
Lowe made her first start since her hand injury on March 19, and the All-American went 1-for-3.
Hollowell got the win in her normal dominant fashion, allowing only one run on seven hits, along with 10 strikeouts, in her complete game victory.
3 Wildcats invited to Team USA Camp
Three Wildcats – Hollowell, Lowe and Foxÿ- were invited to Team USA’s Softball Camp and the 2006 World University Games team. Lowe and Hollowell played on last year’s U.S. National Team, and Fox was invited but did not attend after having surgery on her throwing arm.
Joining the current Wildcat cast, former Arizona softball players Jennie Finch, Lovie Jung, Toni Mascarenas and Mackenzie Vandergeest were also invited to the Women’s National Team Camp.
Notes
On Friday, with Lowe coming back to center field, sophomore Adrienne Acton shifted back to right field in place of Mowatt, who made her first career start at first base, replacing the injured freshman first baseman Sam Banister. … The last time Arizona and California played each other, they played a 12-inning contest in the 2005 Women’s College World Series, which Arizona won 3-2. … Lowe now has 95 career stolen bases, fifth best all-time for Arizona.
