By
Brett Erickson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Junior leads nation in ERA, is 26-0 on the year
The UA athletic department has a number of talented females at the top of their respective sports.
Amanda Beard, who won the 200-meter NCAA breastroke championship, and Lorena Ochoa, the Pacific 10 Conference individual champion, are just two of the outstanding athletes that compete on behalf of the University of Arizona.
Despite their achievements, another student-athlete took home this year's Arizona Daily Wildcat Female Athlete of the Year Award - Jennie Finch of the top-ranked Arizona softball team.
The award, which was won last year by current LPGA golfer Jenna Daniels, is voted on by Wildcat readers and the sports desk's staff of 12 reporters and editors.
"It is most definitely an honor, especially coming from such a prestigious athletic department as ours," Finch said.
All Finch has done this season is post a perfect 26-0 record and lead all Division I players with a 0.25 ERA.
On top of that, she is hitting .317 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs for the Wildcats, which are one of the teams favored to win the NCAA title later this month.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Finch's season has been her ability to perform against top-level opponents.
She was the winning pitcher against then-No. 1 UCLA, No. 3 Stanford three times, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 California twice, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 11 Arizona State three times, No. 14 Oregon State twice and No. 16 Fresno State twice.
Receiving this individual honor is a credit to her teammates, Finch said.
"They back me up everywhere - their defense, their offense," she said of her team, which leads the country in hitting and fielding.
Another accomplishment has been Finch's performance in games against Pac-10 teams, which occupy seven of the top 14 spots in the USA Today/NFCA polls. She has allowed just one earned run in 14 conference games.
"She's done such a phenomenal job for us," UA head coach Mike Candrea said. "Every aspect of the game I think she's capable of playing at a very high level."
Finch came to UA from La Mirada High School in Southern California, where she lettered in softball, basketball and volleyball.
She was named the No. 1 recruit in softball by Jump Magazine after collecting several individual awards, including Long Beach Press-Telegram's 1998 Player of the Year award.
During her first season at Arizona, Finch went 24-8 with a 2.08 ERA. She also hit .245 with seven home runs.
Last year, Finch was 29-2 with a 0.79 ERA. She also hit 16 long balls and had 48 RBIs.
