Never has a walkout in Berkeley worked so effectively.
On May 5, five Cal seniors boycotted their final home game
because of a coaching decision made by head coach Diane
Ninemire.
Since then, the defending Women’s College World Series
Champions have made up and easily won their regional tournament
despite having to travel to Michigan and only being the No. 2 seed
in the region, behind DePaul.
The Bears will play UCLA today in the first round of the World
Series at 7 p.m., in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.
“The game is growing so fast and coming back to the
College World Series has a bigger importance each year,” UCLA
coach Sue Enquist said. “It’s great to be here and
competing in this excellent field.
UCLA is also on a roll, winning its last six games and
outscoring its opponents in their regional competition 22-2.
The two teams met three times during the season, with the Bruins
winning all three.
The first two times they met were close games, with UCLA beating
Cal 3-0 and 4-1 (8 innings) in Berkeley.
But the third game was completely different, with UCLA winning
in six innings via a run-rule 10-0.
“It’s always fun to play UCLA, although fun might
not be the right word,” Cal catcher Courtney Scott told the
Fresno Bee.
“They’re awesome. It’s hard starting off
against UCLA. There’s no better competition, but the way
we’re playing, we have our best shot at getting them
now.”
Cal knows a little about going into the World Series as an
underdog. They went in as the No. 6 seed last year and won it
all.
But this season, they weren’t even seeded.
“They know us just as well as we know them so I think the
trick will be to see who can get into the flow of the game more
quickly,” Enquist said.
UCLA came in to the WCWS last year as the No. 1 seed, but lost
to No. 8 Florida State in the first round. Enquist thinks the team
has learned from last year and hopes they don’t look past
Cal.
“You try in terms of your mental discipline not to make
the game any bigger than it is,” Enquist said.
This year, UCLA is the No. 2 seed.
“I think that’s where the maturity comes in and
remain within yourself,” Enquist added. “Cal knows us
and we know them so I think it’s going to be enjoyable. We
have a lot of respect for them.”
The rest of the tournament field will have several interesting
matchups also.
Arizona comes in as the tournament favorite and the No. 1 seed,
and the only game it has lost in a month and a half was a
meaningless game on the last day of the season to Washington.
“In September, I really didn’t know where this team
would be,” Arizona coach Mike Candrea said in a
statement.
“I felt it was a team that would have to improve a lot to
get where we are now. It is a blue-collar team that really has no
superstars, except the one sitting next to me (Lovie
Jung).”
Should the favorites win out, UCLA will face Arizona in the
championship game on Monday.
Arizona beat UCLA all three times they met this year, 3-0, 5-1
and 7-5 losses.
No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 5 Washington, No. 8 Alabama and
Louisiana-Lafayette round out the World Series teams.
Four Pac-10 teams qualified for the double-elimination
tournament.