The board above says it all. UCLA is this year's NCAA champion, giving Kelly Inouye-Perez her first title as head coach. Arizona added a late run, but it was nowhere near enough. UCLA needed a huge amount of luck to win Game 1, but tonight, the Bruins' pitching depth played a decisive role. Megan Langenfeld, who never was needed in the circle tonight, along with Aleah Macon (4 1/3 innings) and Donna Kerr (2 2/3), gave UCLA three top-shelf pitchers for the postseason. Not to mention how Langenfeld, coming off last night's walk-off homer, added a two-run blast in the top of the first tonight.
Meanwhile Wildcat frosh Kenzie Fowler, who pitched heroically for much of the tournament, just didn't have it tonight, and U of A's relief corps couldn't do much, either. Fowler's line in the box score tonight read:
1 inning pitched, 2 hits allowed, 3 earned runs, 9 batters faced, 3 walks,1 homer, and 1 hit batter.
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Below are postings I made during the game (of which I missed the first few innings).
UCLA adds a homer in the top of the sixth, making it 15-6. Chambers adds another two-run shot in the bottom half: 15-8 Bruins.
Wildcat slugger Stacie Chambers homers to left with a runner on, making it 14-6 Bruins.
ESPN announcer Beth Mowins delivers a key bit of information: There is no run-rule in the championship series. Otherwise, Arizona would be down to its final three outs, needing three runs to get the deficit below eight runs.
Just when it looked like Arizona might make a game of it, UCLA explodes for seven runs in the top of the fifth -- helped by seven consecutive hits -- to make it 14-4.
We're in the bottom of the fourth, with Arizona having scored three times to cut a 7-1 UCLA lead to 7-4. The Wildcats are still threatening, with runners on first and third and nobody out. UCLA has removed Megan Langenfeld from first base to send her out to the bullpen, as Aleah Macon struggles for the Bruins... Macon gets the side out, however, so it remains 7-4.