Walk-off slam in 7th caps Saturday victory
A third comeback wasn't in the cards yesterday for the No. 2 Arizona softball team.
Alicia Hollowell gave up five runs, four earned, on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings before being pulled for junior Leslie Wolfe, and the Wildcats (28-3, 2-1 Pacific 10 Conference) fell 6-3 to No. 3 California at Hillenbrand Stadium in front of a season-high crowd of 2,107.
The junior pitcher (19-2) couldn't finish the weekend sweep after getting wins in a pair of 4-2, come-from-behind victories over No. 7 Stanford (25-7, 1-2) Friday and the Golden Bears (31-4, 2-1) Saturday.
"We can't rely on her to throw every God dang game for us," said Arizona head coach Mike Candrea. "We need a couple of people to step up."
Cal catcher Haley Woods hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, one of 14 Golden Bear hits of the day.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats reached base only three times before senior third baseman Jackie Coburn hit a three-run homer of her own in the bottom of the sixth.
"We're just not real consistent right now, and that's been our nemesis," Candrea said. "Today was a good example of it."
Cal starter Kelly Anderson (17-1) held Arizona hitless until the fifth inning, when senior first baseman Crystal Farley slapped a single past two Bears' fielders into center. Farley finished 1-for-3.
"I think we didn't come out with enough enthusiasm," she said.
Anderson alternated a breaking ball with fastballs down and away on right-handed batters to retire the side in three of the first four innings.
"We should be able to put more at-bats together," Farley said.
Sophomore center fielder Caitlin Lowe, who went 3-for-3 with three runs in Friday's contest, went hitless in four at-bats with a season-high three strikeouts yesterday.
"We don't put any fear in anybody, and that's got to change," Candrea said. "That's a mindset. It's something that we have to get better at."
Wolfe allowed one run on six hits in 2 2/3 innings and walked two.
Sophomore shortstop Kristie Fox saved Arizona from a losing weekend Saturday against Cal.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Fox hit a walk-off grand slam off starter Kristina Thorson (13-3).
Mired in a 3-for-22 slump, Fox belted the first pitch over the wall in left-center field.
Hollowell allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out nine for her 100th career victory, becoming the 41st pitcher in NCAA history to reach the mark.
The junior, sixth on Arizona's all-time wins list, is 24 wins behind Nancy Evans (124-8 from 1994-1998) and one victory from matching Susie Parra (1991-1994).
Cal third baseman Kaleo Eldredge, who finished 3-for-5 yesterday, went 3-for-4 with an RBI single.
Against Stanford Friday, the Wildcats erased a two-run first-inning deficit to score two in the third and fifth innings.
Hollowell missed Farley at first base and threw the ball down the right-field line, allowing shortstop Lauren Lappin and outfielder Catalina Morris to round the bases.
Cardinal starter Becky McCullough (8-1) took her first loss of the season, giving up four runs, three earned, on eight hits in six innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
Arizona travels to Tempe Wednesday to face No. 20 ASU. The Sun Devils (25-10, 0-3 Pac-10) lost two out of three games at home this weekend against Cal and Stanford.
"We've got to come out with a feeling of urgency and not wait until we get down," said Arizona assistant coach Larry Ray. "There are some good teams in this Pac-10, you know, and we've seen the last couple of games that we start off down a couple of runs before we start getting going. It can't be that way."