The Bruins had already clinched second place and had no extra
motivation to come out and play well against Arizona State in their
season-finale on Saturday.
Don’t tell that to Michelle Turner.
The seldom-used freshman pitcher threw a no-hitter, the first of
her career, as part of an emphatic doubleheader sweep by No. 2 UCLA
over No. 15 Arizona State (30-23, 7-14 Pac-10), beating it 8-0 (6
innings) and 9-0 (5 innings).
A day earlier, No. 1 Arizona had defeated the Bruins 7-5,
eliminating UCLA’s small chance at the Pac-10 title.
But Turner, in only her fifth start of the Pac-10 season, was
nearly perfect. She allowed only one walk and threw only 58
pitches.
“I was really excited,” Turner said. “I
don’t think any of us really knew that I had a no-hitter
going.”
Maybe they just didn’t tell her.
“I knew what was going on,” catcher Emily Zaplatosch
said. “But I definitely wasn’t going to tell
her.”
Due to her low pitch count and possibly for the purpose of
saving Keira Goerl, UCLA’s main starter, for the NCAA
regionals, Turner started the second game of the doubleheader.
Any dreams of two no-hitters in one night vanished quickly, as
Sun Devil Kara Bruin singled off Turner in the first inning.
But Turner still threw another gem, allowing only four hits and
two walks, and more importantly, ““ throwing only 66 pitches.
Her 124 pitches on the day combined are fewer than the total that
pitchers sometimes throw in one game.
“I had them ground out a lot on the first pitch,”
Turner said. “My pitch count was so low, I could definitely
start the second game.”
Tairia Mims, Claire Sua, Stephanie Ramos and Caitlin Benyi all
hit home runs in the doubleheader, and seven different Bruins had
at least two hits.
“It was good to see us comeback from a loss like
that,” Zaplatosch said. “To explode on a team like that
is a great comeback.”
In Friday’s game against the Wildcats, UCLA (45-6, 17-4)
got out to an early 3-0 lead on a solo home run by Claire Sua and a
two-run single by Tairia Mims.
The Wildcats responded with a four-run fourth, capped off with
an Autumn Champion two-run single.
Arizona (51-4, 20-1) would add another run in the fifth, and
Zaplatosch would hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to
tie the score.
But with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Jackie Coburn
hit a walk-off two-run homer, ending the game and clinching the
Pac-10 title for the Wildcats.
“How ’bout that,” Arizona coach Mike Candrea
told the Arizona Daily Star. “It was an incredible game.
That’s a heavyweight prize fight right there.”