Monday, April 15, 1996
Wildcats sweep UCLA in season’s final home gamesBy Brent
Boyd
Daily Bruin Contributor
The setting was perfect  a near capacity crowd, a national
television audience, a celebration of the careers of three Bruin
seniors, and a cloudless sky over Easton Stadium on a picturesque
Saturday afternoon. There was only problem: The top-ranked Arizona
Wildcats decided to show up and ruin everything.
Arizona came into Southern California and swept the third-ranked
Bruins in a doubleheader, 5-3 and 5-1, in their final home games of
the season, shattering any hopes the Bruins had of capturing the
Pacific 10 softball title.
Early in the afternoon, it became evident that the Pac-10’s
leading pitching staff would not be able to stop the best hitting
lineup in the conference. Arizona managed nine hits by the fourth
inning of the opener, en route to a 4-1 lead.
But the Bruins responded with a home run in the bottom half of
the inning, cutting the lead to two. After hitting seven home runs
in her first 11 games, it was Kim Wuest’s first round-tripper since
March 2.
"She slipped and I hit it well," Wuest said of Wildcat pitcher
Carrie Dolan. "It felt great just to get another home run, and I
hoped that it would give the team momentum."
Apparently it did spark the Bruins, as she was followed by two
walks and a single by Ginny Mike-Mitchell to load the bases. But
UCLA (28-8 overall, 9-7 Pac-10) was unable to convert, as Julie
Adams grounded out to second base to end the inning, the second
time in the game the Bruins had left the bases full.
Runners left on base proved to be a thorn in the Bruins’ side
all day, as they stranded 10 in the opener, and another five in
Game 2.
"We had many opportunities, but we just weren’t able to
capitalize on them," co-head coach Sue Enquist said. "We had the
right people up at the plate, which made the situation even more
difficult to swallow."
The Bruins were a combined 2-for-14 with runners in scoring
position on the afternoon.
UCLA scored once more in the fifth on an RBI single by Christie
Ambrosi. But despite striking out the side in the seventh, starting
pitcher B’Ann Burns (18-5) surrendered another run, increasing the
Wildcat lead to 5-3.
In the bottom half, the Bruins had one last opportunity. Wuest
 who hit the aforementioned home run in addition to another
shot that hit the fence  approached the plate with a runner
on base and two out. She hit a grounder to second base however,
ending the game.
In the nightcap, things continued pretty much in the same
manner. Arizona (38-4, 11-1) jumped out to an insurmountable 4-0
lead in the third with three hits, an error and a hit batter.
But, unlike two weeks ago in Arizona when UCLA faced the same
situation (losing a heartbreaker in the opener and falling behind
early in the second game), the Bruins refused to give up.
"We had a gut-check after the first game," Enquist said. "This
time ,we did play 14 innings of tough softball, it just wasn’t
enough."
The Bruins had runners on board in each of the next three
innings, but could only manage one run, a fourth-inning sacrifice
fly by Alleah Poulson, scoring Kelly Howard. By crossing the plate,
Howard tied the all-time Bruin career lead for runs scored with
145. It was a bittersweet ending for Howard’s home career, as she
and fellow seniors Mike-Mitchell and Kaci Clark played their final
game at Easton Stadium.
"It is very disappointing; we just weren’t the better (team),"
Enquist said. "I think on any given day, any top team can beat any
other top team  but the bottom line is we haven’t beaten them
yet."
Arizona won all four games between the two clubs this season,
its second sweep in three years.
ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin
Kim Wuest hoped her home run would inspire the Bruins, but the
team lost to the Wildcats in a doubleheader.