By Eric Wein
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UCLA coach Sharron Backus had to be disappointed.
Backus hoped to see a lot of Nancy Evans this season but Saturday night she saw a little too much.
The Arizona freshman, who was recruited by UCLA last year, hit home runs in three consecutive innings and pitched a six-hitter to complete an 11-2 and 7-1 doubleheader sweep of No. 4 UCLA in front of 1,469 at Hillenbrand Stadium.
There was a sense of irony that Evans turned out possibly one of the best performances ever by a UA freshman against a team whose glossy blue uniforms she could have been wearing this season.
"The thought crossed my mind but I'm just glad I'm wearing an Arizona uniform," Evans said, smiling.
Evans began her assault on the fences in the fifth inning of the first game and continued in the sixth and first of the next game.
"When I hit the first one, I was happy because it got me out of my slump," said Evans, who had seven RBI on the evening. "The second one was amazing and then when I hit the third one I was like, 'Oh my gosh.'"
Top-ranked Arizona (35-1) enjoyed six homers on the day.
Center fielder Leah O'Brien led off the third inning with her first homer of the year on a shot over the center-field
Laura Espinoza homered two batters later. In the fifth inning, she hit her 19th homer, completing the night with seven RBI.
The Bruins barely put up a fight despite the fact that the two teams have met in the College World Series championship game the past three years.
"I don't care who it is, if we start hammering the ball it's like a cancer, it can catch them," UA coach Mike Candrea said. "There were some key hits early in both games to kind of get us on a roll and it just started snowballing after
Last week, the Wildcats continued practicing at night to adjust to playing under the lights, leading to what Candrea called their best offensive showing at night _ the Wildcats had 25 hits.
Arizona (35-1, 6-0) backed its steady run production with solid pitching in both games.
While Arizona went with its ace Susie Parra in the first game, UCLA countered with DeeDee Weiman, who was riding a 13-game win streak and held a 0.07 ERA before the series.
Parra (15-1) threw a six-hitter, but the Wildcats banged up Weiman (13-2) for 13 hits and 11 earned runs.
The Bruins (25-5, 9-3) were baffled by Evans (9-0) in the second game and finally broke her shutout in the seventh. Read Next Article