UA clinches Pac-10 title

Kristy Mangos Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior catcher Leah Braatz (31) makes contact during Arizona's doubleheader against Cal yesterday afternoon at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium. Braatz nailed her 23rd home run for the season during 8-0, 7-1 doubleheader sweep.

The victories give UA a 23-1 record in Pac-10 play with four games to go, two each at UCLA and Washington.

Alison McCutcheon went six-for-seven from the plate, all singles, stole six bases and scored four runs in leading Arizona to its 18th and 19th consecutive victories of the year.

"I guess the softball gods were smiling down on me today," McCutcheon said. "I felt real confident today and for the last few weeks. I am just really happy to be playing well right now."

McCutcheon now has 388 career hits and will likely become the first player in NCAA history to collect 400 hits sometime before the season is over.

The Wildcats took the first game in a mercy-rule-shortened 8-0 victory thanks to the hitting of seniors Alison McCutcheon and Leah Braatz and the continually reliable Nancy Evans on the mound.

McCutcheon continued her unparalleled success in the leadoff position, singling twice in three at-bats while grabbing four more stolen bases to bring her season total to 55.

The two-time All-American started rallies in both the first and second innings by slapping base hits into left field and immediately stealing second base on the next pitch. She came around to score in both situations.

Braatz cracked her team-leading 23rd home run of the season on a crazy series of pitches in the bottom half of the second inning.

With a 3-0 count, Braatz took would she thought was ball four, a pitch low and out of the strike zone, and trotted down toward first base before first-base coach Amy Chellevold signaled her to head back to the plate because home plate umpire Stretch Johnson had called the pitch a strike.

Braatz then got her revenge to the Golden Bears' dismay, as she clubbed the next offering from Cal senior hurler Whitney Floyd over the wall in straight-away center field to give Arizona a 5-0 lead. The home run was the second for Braatz off Floyd, the other coming on a game winning grand slam in the top of the ninth of the April 18 game at Cal. The two home runs by Braatz are the only two given up by Floyd this season.

The Wildcats added two more runs in the third and a single run in the fourth to account for the final margin of victory.

Evans, despite suffering from a virus that her doctor said would just have to run its course, pitched five strong innings, striking out three and scattering four California hits.

"It was a good game for us even though I felt pretty bad," Evans said. "I told before the game I could go and I just went out there and did the best I could."

In the second game, Arizona got a three-run homer from senior Lety Pineda in the bottom of the third, her 17th of the year, as the Wildcats went on to win 7-1.

Freshman Becky Lemke pitched her 18th complete game of the season while striking out five and McCutcheon collected four more hits and two additional stolen bases in the Wildcat victory.

"We played very well this weekend," Arizona head coach Mike Candrea said. "We just need to continue playing to win, not playing not to lose."

The Wildcats travel to UCLA and Washington Saturday and Sunday for their final two conference doubleheaders.