Softball coasts to sweep of ASU

Ian Meyer Arizona Daily Wildcat UA junior outfielder Alison Johnsen slides in safe at second base during last night's doubleheader against ASU at Hillenbrand Stadium. The Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 8-4 and 11-2. Arizona will travel to the Bay Area this weekend to take on California and Stanford.

With the exception of a few innings, the Wildcats kept right on rolling in defeating the Sun Devils, 8-4 and 11-2 to the delight of the 1,758 fans in attendance.

"Sometimes we put it in coast and I don't want to put it in coast," Arizona head coach Mike Candrea said. "I just want to pound people."

At the plate, the Wildcats did just that. Braatz-Cochrane had two home runs on the night and went 4-for-6. Alison Johnsen hit safely in her 16th and 17th-straight games on a night in which she went 7-for-8.

"Whatever Alison's doing, we all ought to take a dose of it," Candrea said.

While neither game was ever really in jeopardy, the Wildcats did display the kind of mental lapses in the field that can drive a coach crazy.

"We had a chance to put them away early and we didn't," Candrea said.

Despite the fact it was a rivalry game, Arizona State just isn't on par with the rivalries against UCLA and Fresno State.

"If we were as pumped up as we were for UCLA we would have blown them out of the water," Braatz-Cochrane said.

With runners at first and third in the sixth inning of the first game, ASU pinch-hitter Tina Ruff popped the ball up just beyond the pitching circle. Wildcat pitcher Nancy Evans, shortstop Lisa Pitt, and second baseman Katie Swan all converged on the ball but watched each other as the ball dropped to the ground, scoring Holly Smith.

It was a play that typified the off-night in the field for the Wildcats.

"We had a couple of lapses," said Evans who improved to 25-1. "We got down a bit and started to dwell on the bad things."

The Sun Devils tried to take advantage of the Wildcats (44-4 overall, 16-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference), but just couldn't muster up enough offense. ASU (30-16, 8-12) got four runs in that sixth inning, but were already down 8-0 thanks to a six-run first inning by UA that included two singles from Johnsen and an RBI double from Evans.

"I think it was an inning of letting down a bit," Evans said of the sixth. "You have got to shut them down or they're going to capitalize."

The sixth inning again provided the Arizona State highlights in the second game. Arizona pitcher Carrie Dolan was working on a two-hit shutout before she walked a batter with the bases loaded. Arizona State third baseman Christine Gill singled in another run before Dolan (19-3) was able to close the door.

The Sun Devils saw whatever chance they may have had slip away when the Wildcats scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth.

The inning, though, did have one scary moment for UA. After Evans singled to right, Braatz-Cochrane started to advance to third on the throw home. The ball was cut off, forcing the Arizona junior to dive back into second. After landing, she rolled on the ground in obvious pain, stopping play. But after a couple minutes, she was well enough to continue playing.

"It was really weird," Braatz-Cochrane said. "It felt like I had really hurt my back bad. They told me to take some deep breaths and it was okay."

The Wildcats travel to the Bay Area this weekend for doubleheaders with Stanford and California with a chance to put the Pac-10 title on ice.