By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The end is near, as there are eight teams left battling for
UCLA’s NCAA softball crown this weekend. The
double-elimination tournament features a much more balanced bracket
without a heavy favorite, like last year’s UCLA squad.
Washington, ranked No. 1 for most of the season, is the leading
candidate to take home the championship. But Arizona, UCLA and Cal
have all beaten the Huskies this season.
Arizona is as balanced and deep as Washington, and has performed
well enough recently to also win the crown. UCLA is as tournament
savvy as they come and also has the talent to win the whole
thing.
Every team in the tournament has played at least two other teams
in the Series, so there is little unfamiliarity. With four Pac-10
teams and two Conference USA schools, some teams have played each
other as many as five times this season.
“¢bull;No. 1 Washington Huskies (61″“7, top seed)
The Huskies feature a remarkably similar formula to UCLA’s
1999 Championship team ““ one power pitcher, one finesse
pitcher, the two most productive power hitters in the country and a
lineup that is dangerous one through nine.
The Huskies lost to UCLA 3-2 in the championship game last year,
but are more experienced and have two more weapons than last
year’s team in freshman sluggers Jenny Topping and Jamie
Clark, the two top home run and RBI women in the NCAA.
The Huskies play an eighth-seeded, but underrated DePaul team in
the first round.
“¢bull;No. 2 Arizona Wildcats (57-7, second seed)
The Wildcats have proven that they are the second-best team in
the country, finishing just behind Washington in the Pac-10 and
leading the NCAA in batting average and fielding percentage.
The “˜Cats rely more on speed than power, and have a
particularly explosive offense. Arizona also has two dominant
pitchers in Becky Lemke and Jennie Finch.
The Wildcats, and Finch in particular, are riding a hot streak,
dominating the competition in Tucson by a combined score of 36-0.
Finch pitched a no-hitter in the regional championship game against
Nebraska.
Arizona, which has been to the last 13 World Series, faces off
against seventh seed Southern Mississippi.
“¢bull;No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners (62″“8, third seed)
The best team in the Midwest, the Sooners rode a potent offense
all the way to the World Series. They have six batters hitting over
.340, including Lisa Carey (.415 average, 17 home runs regular
season) and Ashli Barret (.359, 16).
The pitching duties are shared equally by Lana Moran and
Jennifer Stewart, but the offense is what gets it done for
Oklahoma.
Playing in front of the home crowd could give the Sooners a
boost in the first game against Cal.
“¢bull;No. 10 California Golden Bears (49-23, sixth seed)
After playing a grueling preseason and Pac-10 schedule, the
Bears are back in Oklahoma, ready to play for the big
enchilada.
Cal features possibly the most patient hitter in the history of
the NCAA in Veronica Nelson. Despite smacking 13 home runs, Nelson
was picky enough to walk an NCAA record 79 times, destroying the
season record of 64.
With big wins over No. 1 Washington, as well as Fresno State in
the Fresno Regional championship game, the Bears have proven they
know how to win in crunch time.
“¢bull;No. 8 Southern Mississippi (61-11, seventh seed)
If there is a one-dimensional team in the World Series, it is
Southern Miss. As pitcher Courtney Blades goes, so do the Golden
Eagles. Pitching virtually every game, Blades has 50 wins and 632
strikeouts so far, destroying the NCAA single-season strikeout mark
of 492.
Blades continued her workhorse ways in the regionals, pitching
every inning of the postseason and striking out 12 batters per
seven innings pitched.
The Eagles’ main threats in the batters box are Amy Berman
and Crystal Stevens.
Blades pitched well in last year’s World Series, but the
balance of the opposing teams was too much for Southern Miss to
overcome. This year shouldn’t be much different.
“¢bull;No. 8 DePaul Blue Demons (40″“20, unranked)
Similar to last year’s World Series run, the Blue Demons
cruised through the regular season almost unnoticed. But when the
playoffs came, DePaul demonized their opponents, sweeping through
the nation’s toughest bracket in Ann Arbor, Mich.
First baseman Tami Bouck and leftfielder Jenny Davis are among
the many tough outs for the Blue Devils, while freshman pitcher
Lindsay Chouinard’s game is maturing nicely.
The Demons are tough and scrappy, and know what it takes to get
it done. DePaul, however, may hope it does not run into UCLA, which
single-handedly kept them out of the championship game in 1999 with
two extra-inning defeats.
Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Cal, Southern Mississippi and DePaul
all return from last year’s series in which UCLA and
Washington, both undefeated up to that point, battled for the
championship.