By
Brett Erickson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Vandergeest comes through with two-out, three-run homer in Arizona's 3-0 victory.
For most of last night's game, the second-ranked Arizona softball team was in a position it hadn't been in all season.
Entering the bottom half of the sixth inning, the Wildcats found themselves in a scoreless tie against the Creighton Bluejays. Arizona, which entered the game hitting .404 as a team, had posted just one hit - a single to right field off the bat of freshman Mackenzie Vandergeest in the second inning.
Vandergeest, though, came through again by hitting a two-out, three-run homer to give the Wildcats a 3-0 victory in front of 501 people at Hillenbrand Stadium. Vandergeest's shot came one batter after Creighton intentionally walked UA clean-up hitter Leneah Manuma, the reigning Pacific 10 Conference Player of the Week.
"It's happened twice now so I've just got to step it up and show them that I can hit the ball too," said Vandergeest, who also saw Oklahoma give the free pass to Manuma Sunday afternoon.
With one out in the inning, senior Nicole Giordano slapped a single over the third baseman's head. Senior Toni Mascarenas moved her to second base with a sacrifice bunt, and Creighton followed by walking Manuma.
The move fired up Vandergeest, who responded by hitting the first pitch she saw over the right-field fence.
The three-run home run allowed the Wildcats (28-0) to focus on the near-perfect performance of Vandergeest's roommate, pitcher Jenny Gladding. The freshman came with one strike of tossing the third perfect game in school history, but settled for her second no-hitter in four days.
The only Creighton (4-7) batter to reach base was Frenchy Nix, who drew full-count walk with two outs in the top of the seventh inning. After walking Nix, Gladding - who also no-hit Indiana State Saturday afternoon - struck out Sami Herbster to end the game.
"I thought Gladding absolutely stepped up and gave us everything that we needed," said UA head coach Mike Candrea, who was coaching in his 1,000th game for Arizona.
Gladding, meanwhile, said she enjoyed pitching in a close ball game instead of one of the 18 mercy-rule shortened contests Arizona has enjoyed this season.
"It was exciting to have a little bit of pressure put on me and really have to bear down and get the job done," said Gladding, who finished with seven strikeouts and improved her record to 9-0.
While the Wildcats were finally able to break through off Bluejays' pitcher Jenny Hunt in the sixth inning, they struggled offensively for most of the game. The Wildcats finished just 3-for-19 (.158) and ran themselves into two double plays early in the game.
In the first inning, Mascarenas and Giordano were on second base and third base, respectively, when Manuma hit a ground ball back to the pitcher. Giordano broke for home and was caught in a run down before being tagged out in front of the third base bag. Mascarenas, too, got caught between bases and was called out heading back to second base.
In the next frame, Mascarenas reached on the single to right field to open the inning. Junior Jennie Finch laid down a sacrifice bunt, and reached base on a fielding error by Creighton second baseman Ashlee Trapp.
The next batter, Gladding, hit a ground ball to Trapp, who tagged Finch out and threw over to first to complete the double play. Senior Allison Andrade struck out to end the inning.
Even though his team struggled offensively, Candrea was pleased with Arizona's overall performance.
"The nice thing tonight is that we found a different way to win," he said. "It's nice to be able to put 10 runs on the board, but on the other hand, sometimes you're not going to get in that situation."
Arizona's leading hitter, senior Lauren Bauer, entered the game with a .517 average, but had an uncharacteristic game, striking out in all three of her plate appearances.
The center fielder, however, made up for her offensive woes with stellar play in the field. With the game scoreless in the fourth inning, Bauer ran down a deep drive from Creighton's Stacey Rybar about five feet in front of the center field fence.
The next batter up, Hunt, hit a bloop shot that appeared as if it would drop in shallow center field, but Bauer made a sliding catch to keep Gladding's no-hitter in tact.
"Your bat is not always going to be working, but you've got to keep your head up," Bauer said.
Candrea said the play of his center fielder was key in keeping the game close.
"She runs like a gazelle, and I think any ball that goes up in that area she's going to be able to get to and catch," he said.
Arizona returns to action this afternoon against Cal State Northridge. The two teams play a doubleheader, beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium.
