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Rain delays, errors mark No. 1 softball's weekend sweep


By Tom Knauer
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday, March 7, 2005
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After two games, two rain delays and more miscues than either team cared to count, the No. 1 Arizona softball team needed a charge at home Saturday.

The Wildcats got it, thanks to both ends of their freshman battery.

Eastern Michigan center fielder Stephanie Sabo dropped Shelley Schultz's fly ball in the bottom of the seventh inning, and pinch runner Adrienne Acton scored the winning run from first base in Arizona's 3-2 win at Hillenbrand Stadium Saturday.

The play reflected a mistake-mired weekend where the teams combined for six errors, numerous dropped outs and botched opportunities at the plate.

"There's three parts of this game," said Arizona head coach Mike Candrea. "I can tell the team, you've got to be able to generate offense, you've got to play good defense and you've got to get good pitching. When you play good teams, you have to have all three working."

After tallying 15 runs on 16 hits in Friday's 15-0, five-inning win over Eastern Michigan (0-4), Arizona (15-0) failed to pick up where it left off.

The Wildcats trailed the Eagles 2-1 in the fourth inning, after a leadoff triple by third baseman Liz Flack led to a blown tag at the plate and Eastern Michigan's first lead in the two-game series.

Flack hit a solo home run in the third off Arizona freshman starter Taryne Mowatt, who allowed two runs, one earned on three hits with nine strikeouts in six innings.

Arizona struggled to respond, as Eagles starter Aimee Woodrum (0-2) sent away 12 consecutive Wildcat batters before freshman catcher Callista Balko hit a home run in the sixth to tie the game at two.

"Callista, she's come up big numerous times for us this year," Candrea said. "That was huge, obviously. ... Anyone who comes up and delivers something like that, it becomes very huge for the team."

Mowatt retired her last seven batters before being pulled for junior pitcher Alicia Hollowell (10-0), who pitched a perfect seventh inning to preserve the one-run deficit.

"The key for us is we need support," Candrea said. "I thought Taryne threw well enough for us to win. We just faltered defensively, made some mistakes, that put them back into the game."

Hollowell, who struck out 13 for her 10th career no-hitter Friday, is one no-hitter short of the team season record of seven set in 1991.

"Alicia's throwing very well," Candrea said. "She's throwing very, very well right now."

Rain delayed play for 50 minutes in the middle of the second inning. Play was halted again in the top of the seventh, as players and coaches rushed to cover the infield, only to roll the tarp back up minutes later.

Balko said Saturday's game gave the team a needed wake-up call after a pleasing performance the night before.

"We didn't label the team and we just came out and played our best," she said of Friday's game. "(Saturday), we kind of came out a little lackadaisical, thinking that we would just go through the motions, and we can't do that."

Sophomore shortstop Kristie Fox, who hit an RBI double Saturday, went 5-for-7 with six RBIs over the weekend.

Fox hit a three-run homer Friday as part of a 10-run second inning for the Wildcats, a season high.

Eagles starter Michelle Lloyd (0-2) allowed 11 runs, five earned on seven hits with eight walks and three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.

Arizona visits Las Vegas next weekend for the UNLV Tournament. The event marks the first phase of a three-week road trip that keeps the Wildcats out of Tucson until April 1 against Stanford.

"This road trip is going to be one of our better road trips," said senior third baseman Jen Martinez. "We're going to face a lot of good competition, so we're going to need to keep it up in every game and keep our mental attitude up."



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