Editor’s note: For more than three decades, the UA has been one of college softball’s best teams, making 23 Women’s College World Series appearances and winning eight national championships. The Star is re-living each of the WCWS trips.
1998: Fresno State rips homer to keep ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ from sixth title of decade
What went down: Heading into the 1998 Women’s College World Series final against Fresno State, the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats were cruising. The UA outscored its opponents 45-0 during all six postseason matchups — and 14-0 during the WCWS.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ ace Nancy Evans would only allow one run in the WCWS finals, but that’s all Fresno State needed to beat the Wildcats 1-0. The Bulldogs became the first non-Pac-10 team since 1987 to win, and the first team other than the UA to win since 1992 (UCLA’s 1995 title was vacated because of scholarship violations).
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Leading up to the championship game, The Daily Oklahoman had called ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, winners of five of the previous seven series titles, “the Monsters of Mid-May†and the Godzilla of college softball.
The Wildcats beat Washington and Oklahoma State twice. Four-time All-American catcher Leah Braatz hit her 85th career home run, tying former Wildcat standout Laura Espinoza for the NCAA record, to lead the Wildcats past OSU 5-0, putting them into the title game.
In the championship, Braatz showed why she claimed back-to-back honors for NFCA Catcher of the Year. In the fifth inning, she faked a throw to second as a runner was trying to steal. The runner at third came off the base and Braatz fired a laser to Toni Mascarenas, who tagged the runner for the third out.
Evans escaped a few more jams before giving up a solo home run to Nina Lindenberg in sixth inning — the first run Evans allowed in 38 innings. Evans struck out four, walked one and gave up eight hits.
The Wildcats were only able to scratch out three hits in the game.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ finished the season 67-4, an NCAA record for wins. Four Wildcats made the All-Tournament team: Evans, Braatz, Mascarenas and Lety Pineda.
The Wildcats played the season for Julie Reitan, who died the previous summer following complications from diabetes. The team huddled before games to say a prayer; Braatz carried Retain’s photo in her back pocket.
From the archives: The Star’s Anthony Gimino wrote that ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ dominated all season before running into a pitcher who quieted the Wildcat’s bats. He wrote:
The Wildcats ruled the 1998 college softball season for all but the final day, earning every first-place vote in every coaches poll. They were seeded No. 1 in the postseason and had won their previous six tournament games by a total of 45-0.
But in the one-game final ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ ran into (Amanda) Scott, an All-American Who help the UA to a season-low three hits, effectively using a drop ball and a curve that kept hitting the outside corner.
“She had our number. It’s just one of those things,†(UA coach Mike) Candrea said. “I had a feeling it was going to be a close game. They got the key hit and we didn’t.â€
She said it: “It’s a matter of who makes the least amount of mistakes and my one mistake ended up costing us the game. I threw the wrong pitch at the wrong time. I should have gone outside instead of inside. It’s just a gross feeling.†— Evans
After OKC: Evans was the last Wildcat to leave the stadium, departing 75 minutes after the game ended. She played in the USA Softball Women’s National Festival a few weeks later in the same stadium.
A two-time All-American and a three-time national champion, Evans (36-2) finished her senior season striking out 255 batters in 241 innings, pitching 20 shutouts in 37 starts — three were no-hitters — and going 26-2 against ranked teams. She was 124-8 in her career, had an 0.98 career ERA and had a .939 winning percentage — still an NCAA best. In her four WCWS appearances, she went 10-2.
She won the Honda Award in 1998, becoming the third UA player to win it following Susie Parra in 1994 and Jenny Dalton in 1996.
As a pitching coach for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, Evans won three more national titles. She is a member of the UA Hall of Fame and was named to the Pac-12 All-Century team along with Braatz, Dalton, Espinoza, Leah O’Brien, Amy Chellevold, Caitlin Lowe, Alison McCutcheon, Susie Parra, Jennie Finch, Alicia Hollowell and Candrea
The big number: 5. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ said goodbye to five seniors — Evans, Braatz, McCutcheon, Pineda and Tiana Hejduk — and much of its production.
The Wildcats lost their ace, 46% of their hits, 71% of their homers, 46% of their runs, 53% of their RBIs and 54% of their stolen bases. It was the end of an era, though a new one was looming: Finch enrolled at the UA in the fall.
