UA softball will be fine

After beating Cal 3-0 in the opening game, Arizona fell to Washington 3-0 and DePaul 1-0 to be ousted from Oklahoma City, a town it has dominated over the course of the decade.

But before anyone bemoans the death of the program, two things need to be considered.

First, college softball has grown by leaps and bounds. While most of the talent is still concentrated out west (all eight Pac-10 teams made it to regionals, and four advanced to the CWS including eventual champion UCLA and runner-up Washington), it's becoming more balanced on the whole.

Two programs, UA and UCLA, aren't so far ahead anymore. Not only are they challenged by teams inside the Pac-10, but last year's champion was WAC powerhouse Fresno State.

DePaul knocked UA out of the CWS this year, showing that there is good softball being played east of the Mississippi.

As for the second factor that hurt UA, it was youth. Just like the baseball and both basketball teams, this year's softball squad was young at too many key positions.

Arizona's starting pitchers were freshman Jennie Finch (24-8, 2.08 ERA) and sophomore All-American Becky Lemke (29-8, 1.21).

They were a very good freshman and sophomore, but their age would show at times. Finch was rocked by Washington earlier this season , and while she shut the Huskies down in Tucson, Kelly Hauxhurst's two-run double in the CWS game was too much to overcome.

And in a two-run double killing UA lay the reason for the Wildcats' early postseason exit - a lack of offense.

Washington's Jennifer Spediacci (23-8) and DePaul's Liza Brown (22-8) limited UA to three hits combined.

This year's Wildcats were built on speed and spray-hitting, as opposed to the more power-oriented teams of years past. When Spediacci and Brown were able to keep UA off the bases, the Wildcats lost their best weapon.

On the whole, UA's postseason struggles backed up a regular season in which the team only hit .301, a far cry from the 1998 team's amazing .385 mark.

Sophomore leadoff hitter and All-American Nicole Giordano (.396 average, 34 RBI, 25 stolen bases) and sophomore third baseman Toni Mascarenas (.280, 4 HR, 37 RBI) went a combined 0 for 11 in the losses. UA's best hitter in 1999, sophomore left fielder Lauren Bauer (.423 average, 42 RBI, 43 SB), was only 2 for 6.

In the end, though, Arizona returns virtually its entire starting lineup intact. Only shortstop Michelle Churnock, who missed most of the year with a broken leg, is gone.

A year older, a year wiser. Sure, it's cliché, but it's what the Wildcats know they will have backing them up in 2000.

Arizona was already the team of the 90s with five titles over the decade. Now it's time for the Wildcats to claim the title of team of the new millennium. And with the talent coming back, they can do it.