OKLAHOMA CITY “”mdash; It may have pained her to admit it, but
UCLA coach Sue Enquist believes Michigan winning the Women’s
College World Series at UCLA’s expense Wednesday night was
probably better for the sport. Softball has long been dominated by
West Coast teams, with those teams winning 20 of the 23 NCAA
Championships before the Wolverines captured the 2005 title
Wednesday night. “I know it’s good for softball to see
a team other than UCLA win the championship,” Enquist said.
“I’ve been in the game for many years at UCLA, and
I’ve always kept one eye on anything that can make the game
bigger. “It’s important that teams from other areas are
competitive.” Michigan set a lot of firsts this year,
becoming the first team east of the Mississippi River to win a
championship. Also for the first time half of the Women’s
College World Series teams ““ Michigan, DePaul, Alabama and
Tennessee ““ were from east of the Mississippi. Enquist and
others have said that it’s also important these teams do well
as the sport’s exposure grows nationally. All of the games at
this year’s World Series were televised live nationally
either on ESPN or ESPN2, and the attendance at the ASA Hall of Fame
Stadium in Oklahoma City was the highest ever. DODD
SHINES: For most of UCLA’s season, sophomore Lisa
Dodd struggled. But her home run in Wednesday’s championship
game for the Bruins gave them a 1-0 lead. Dodd wasn’t the
hitter she wanted to be for most of the season, with her batting
average dropping as low as .143 in early May. But she was one of
the team’s hottest hitters down the stretch for the team and
in the first two rounds of the postseason, raising her average all
the way to .211 in the span of one month. She was 3-for-8 in the
series against Michigan, including an RBI in UCLA’s Game 1
victory. “I couldn’t say enough about her,”
Enquist said. “Dodd’s at her best at end of the year,
when the games matter the most.” The .211-hitter got so much
respect in the postseason that she was pitched around many times,
including in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game, when Dodd
was walked with the potential championship-winning run on third
base. Dodd, a sophomore, also hit well at the 2004 World Series,
hitting 7-for-17 at softball’s grandest stage a year ago.
SHORT HOPS: Four Bruins were named to the WCWS
All-Tournament Team, including right fielder Krista Colburn,
shortstop Jodie Legaspi, pitcher Anjelica Selden and catcher Emily
Zaplatosch. … Wednesday night’s Game 3 was the sixth time
the final game at the Women’s College World Series had gone
in to extra innings. The previous time was 2003, when UCLA beat Cal
1-0 in nine innings. … Game 3 also marked UCLA’s first
extra-inning game of the World Series, marking the first time since
1986 that all eight teams at the Women’s College World Series
played an extra-inning game.