Right after Arizona ace Taryne Mowatt set down the Oregon State lineup in order to start off yesterday’s softball game with the Beavers, she knew she was going to win the game.
“”After the first inning I was like, ‘All right, we’ve got this in the bag,'”” Mowatt said. “”I get (that feeling) a lot when I am in the groove.””
It turned out Mowatt was right, as the No. 8 Wildcats run-ruled the Beavers 13-1 in five innings to conclude the weekend series with the Oregon schools. Arizona (31-15, 8-7 Pacific 10 Conference) hit four home runs in the contest and Mowatt allowed only three hits en route to one of the Wildcats’ easier victories of the season.
“”They were a little bit more focused (yesterday),”” said Arizona interim head coach Larry Ray. “”I think it gives the young ladies a lot of confidence. I saw some at-bats today that showed a little more of what they are capable of. It was just matter of them having the right mindset and executing the game plan.””
But the feeling of assurance Mowatt had may have been the most encouraging thing to come out of Arizona’s weekend, as the pitcher admitted over the course of the last couple weeks she has been struggling with confidence issues.
Ray said he felt the ace pitched more effectively than she did in the preceding weeks.
“”It is encouraging. I saw an upward trend and this was one of her better games of the year,”” Ray said, “”and we are just hoping she takes it from here on (out) and moves forward and up.””
Arizona’s weekend got off to a disastrous start, as it lost to Oregon (27-21, 2-10), whose only two wins in Pac-10 play came at the expense of the Wildcats. The loss sent Arizona to a season-high four-game losing streak.
Oregon, which currently ranks last in the Pac-10, entered this weekend last in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored and RBIs.
“”Some teams just match up well with others and Oregon has always played us pretty tough,”” Ray said. “”It was just one of those things where they just had to have a little more focus and sometimes they kind of stray a little bit from our game plan and that is what gets us into trouble.””
Arizona third baseman Janae Leles said the loss to the Ducks “”stung,”” but the Wildcats didn’t dwell on it and went into Saturday not thinking about it.
“”We all let it go and we didn’t talk about it at all,”” Leles said.
Arizona, however, entered Saturday’s matchup with Oregon State still feeling the effects of the loss to the Ducks, as they fell behind on Beavers 5-0 in the second inning.
But the Wildcats pulled it together for a comeback victory over Oregon State, 7-6, as a home run from Laine Roth in the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be a game-winning knock.
“”The weekend definitely started off disastrous with the loss on Friday and then the really bad first couple innings against Oregon State on (Saturday),”” Mowatt said. “”But we turned it around and we came out (yesterday) and we pretty much dominated.””
