Fowler

Arizona freshman Kenzie Fowler, a compression sleeve covering her bruised right forearm, said she will be ready to pitch in the Wildcats’ opener at the Women’s College World Series on Thursday.

UA faces Tennessee in Oklahoma City, starting at 4 p.m. Tucson time. The game also will be televised by ESPN2.

Fowler was hit in the arm Saturday by a line drive off the bat of BYU’s J.C. Clayton, the second batter of the game. Sarah Akamine came in and was the winning pitcher in a 10-2 five-inning victory.

While the World Series will be a new experience for Fowler (34-6, 1.27 ERA), she has pitched in Hall of Fame Stadium before during summer ball events.

“I’m pretty excited,” she said. “It is Arizona, so we expect to be there; it’s our goal every year. But at the same time, you have to be a little excited.”

Can you get off work early on Thursday? The Arizona softball team will begin play at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City on Thursday at 4 p.m. Tucson time.

The Wildcats’ game against Tennessee will be televised by ESPN2.

There was one shocker in the Super Regional bracket on Sunday, as 16th-seeded Hawaii beat top-seeded Alabama 5-4 to eliminate the Crimson Tide and advance to the Series. That marks the first time the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament failed to make it to the World Series.

Here are the four first-round matchups on Thursday (with original seeding in the 64-team tournament):

No. 9 seed Missouri vs. No. 16 Hawaii (10 a.m. Tucson time)

No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 4 Florida (12:30 p.m.)

No. 10 Arizona vs. No. 15 Tennessee (4 p.m.)

No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 3 Washington (6:30 p.m.)

With the top two seeds out (Tennessee eliminated No. 2 Michigan in a Super Regional), the Washington Huskies become the favorite … which they should have been all along.

The defending national champs were ranked No. 1 all season and have the nation’s best player — pitcher Danielle Lawrie — and should have been seeded first overall when the field was announced two weeks ago.

The winner of the Arizona-Tennessee game will play the winner of the Georgia-Washington game in the second round. The losers of those games play in an elimination game. Check out the full bracket.

Sarah Akamine and coach Mike Candrea discuss the 10-2 victory over BYU in a postgame news conference.
TucsonCitizen.com photo

Be ready. Sounds so simple. Just be ready. That’s what all backup players have to be. That’s what Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea has been telling senior pitcher Sarah Akamine lately. Be ready.

Because you never know what’s going to happen.

“I ask her every day, ‘Are you ready, Sarah?’” Candrea said Saturday after a 10-2 victory over BYU gave the Wildcats a berth in the Women’s College World Series.

“She says, ‘I’m ready. I’m ready for anything.’ Today she showed me that.”

On Saturday afternoon, Akamine had little reason to be mentally ready in the bottom of the first inning against BYU in the second game of an NCAA Super Regional. But things changed in a flash.

Starting pitcher Kenzie Fowler took a batted ball off her right forearm, and, as a fearful crowd of 2,896 at Hillenbrand Stadium barely dared to breathe, the ever-ready Akamine popped out of the dugout and quickly got warmed-up in the bullpen.

“Sarah walked in, kept her composure and did a great job and gave us an opportunity to win that game,” Candrea said.

Now, it should be noted — because it was by Candrea and Akamine — that she hasn’t always been ready.

Also from TucsonCitizen.com:
Candrea: Fowler appears to be ‘fine’ after being by batted ball
UA-BYU game blog

Akamine, earlier in her career, was something of a reluctant pitcher. She was a second baseman who just happened to make 21 pitching appearances in her first two seasons. But with Arizona having a pressing need, she converted to full-time pitching before her junior year.

And she has, on occasion, been wide-eyed, lacking the steely nerves and the singular focus so common in a pitching star.

“Getting her mindset where it needed to be to walk into a tough situation … two years ago, that would have never happened to her,” Candrea said.

But now she’s a senior, and, well, sometimes a senior just gets it.

When he turned the ball over to Akamine in the bottom of the first, Candrea said he liked the look in Akamine’s eyes. She was ready.

Candrea’s final message to her: “Have fun.”

That she did. Getting outs is fun.

She inherited runners on first and second with no outs, allowing a run on a fielder’s choice and a wild pitch that tied the game at 1.

From there, the Arizona batters took control with four runs in the third, and five an inning later. Akamine, using her drop ball effectively, retired 12 of the first 13 batters she faced.

BYU broke through for a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Akamine limited the damage as the Cats were able to end the game after the fifth inning because of the eight-run mercy rule.

“It’s taken me this long to get ready and get prepared,” Akamine said. “I stepped up, and the team stepped up behind me. Yeah, it was a great feeling.”

It probably hasn’t been easy for Akamine this season. Most of the discussion has been about Fowler, the freshman sensation. With the way Candrea coaches, he was prepared to exclusively use Fowler throughout the rest of the postseason.

So, Akamine could only wait, practice … and be ready.

She entered the game with a 3.48 ERA and had started only one of the previous 22 games, although she has been used as a late-inning reliever. That she was able to hold the line as an early-inning reliever Saturday made her a postseason hero.

In the postgame news conference, as Akamine settled into her chair to Candrea’s right, she apologized to the coach for the tight fit.

“That’s OK,” Candrea told her. “You’re on the good list.”

And on the ready-to-play list.

The right arm of Kenzie Fowler will be a big topic of discussion this week/Tucson Citizen 2009 photo

The initial word on the status of Arizona freshman pitcher Kenzie Fowler is that she will be “fine” for the Women’s College World Series that begins Thursday.

Fowler was knocked out of Saturday’s Super Regional against BYU when the Cougars’ second batter of the game, J.C. Clayton, lined a shot back up the middle. Fowler protected herself with her arms, with the ball hitting her right (pitching) forearm.

After being pulled from the game, Fowler was in the dugout with her right forearm wrapped in ice.

In the fourth inning, she went to the bullpen to throw some warm-up pitches, which was a good sign.

“We had it X-rayed. There are no breaks,” coach Mike Candrea said after Arizona won the best-of-three series against BYU with a 10-2 victory in five innings. “It’s just sore right now. I think it will be fine.”

Candrea said there was some swelling in Fowler’s forearm.

Arizona will resume practice Monday in Tucson before leaving for Oklahoma City, where it will face Tennessee in the opening round of the World Series. Candrea won’t be at practice Monday, however, because he has to travel to Oklahoma City on Sunday as part of the All-American selection committee.

UA-BYU game blog

From Friday: ‘Stable’ Fowler feels good as Cats take Game 1

It’s off the Women’s College World Series again for the Arizona Wildcats. With pitcher Kenzie Fowler knocked out of the game after two batters when hit in the right forearm by a line drive, UA puts on its hitting shoes and gets a solid relief effort from Sarah Akamine.

Arizona dispatched BYU 10-2 in five innings, winning by the mercy rule.

Arizona will open Thursday at the World Series against Tennessee, which advanced by beating Michigan, which had been seeded second in the tournament.

Fowler appeared to be OK later in the game, as she made some warm-up throws in the bullpen. Check back later for postgame comments and reaction.

* * *
Arizona pads its lead in the top of the fourth, moving ever-so-close to its 22nd appearance in the Women’s College World Series in the past 23 seasons. The Wildcats scored five runs off Paige Affleck to take a 10-1 lead.

Brittany Lastrapes led off with a double and scored when K’Lee Arredondo singled to right field, where Delaney Willard bobbled the ball, allowing Lastrapes to come home.

Later in the inning, Brigette Del Ponte had an RBI single, Kristen Arriola had a two-run double and Baillie Kirker singled in Arriola.

The game will be over after five innings if UA leads by at least eight runs.

* * *
Arizona blows the game open in the top of the third with only one hit. BYU starter Christie Zinanti walked four batters, the last of which came on four pitches to Lini Koria, who, for the second time today, drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk. That was it for Zinanti, who got seven outs and walked seven batters.

The Wildcats got the hit they needed when Kristen Arriola followed by bouncing a hit back through the middle, driving in Stacie Chambers and Brigette Del Ponte. Arizona scored one more run when third baseman Angeline Quiocho mishandled Ballie Kirker’s grounder, allowing Koria to score to make it 5-1.

* * *
BYU ties the game at 1 in the bottom of the first. Sarah Akamine pitches well in relief of injured Kenzie Fowler, inheriting runners on first and second with no outs. Kristin Delahoussaye went to third on a fielder’s choice, and although Akamine struck out the next two batters, she also threw a wild pitch that allowed Delahoussaye to score.

* * *
The outlook for Game 2 — and perhaps the series — just changed as Arizona pitcher Kenzie Fowler took a line drive from the bat of J.C. Clayton off her right (pitching) forearm. Coaches and trainers came out to talk with Fowler, and coach Mike Candrea took her out of the game in favor of Sarah Akamine.

Also, little-used senior pitcher Ashley Ralston-Alvarez is warming up.

BYU has runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the first. Fowler is in the dugout with her forearm wrapped in ice.

* * *
BYU’s decision to start Christie Zinanti looks shaky, although she avoided major damage in the top of the first (Arizona is the designated visiting team). UA’s Brittany Lastrapes led off with an infield hit, and, with two outs, Zinanti walked Stacie Chambers and Brigette Del Ponte to load the bases.

Arizona’s Lini Koria took ball four on a 3-1 pitch to drive in a run.

The Wildcats, hoping for a big inning, had to settle for that one run, as Kristen Arriola grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.

* * *
BYU coach Gordon Eakin is going with his No. 2 pitcher, senior Christie Zinanti, for today’s second game in the best-of-three Super Regional. Zinanti is 11-2 with a 3.29 ERA. She has pitched 93 2/3 innings this season, allowing 74 hits and striking out 90 while walking 75. She was the Mountain West Pitcher of the Year in 2009 when he had a 1.69 ERA.

Arizona coach Mike Candrea is staying with ace Kenzie Fowler, who was the winning pitcher in Friday’s opening game, 2-1.

Elsewhere in the Super Regionals, defending champion Washington bounced back to win two games Friday night against Oklahoma to advance to the Women’s College World Series. Huskies senior Danielle Lawrie pitched shutouts in both games. Georgia on Saturday eliminated Cal, which was one of six Pac-10 teams left in the tournament.

Fowler

Arizona coach Mike Candrea, when he was recruiting pitcher Kenzie Fowler, suspected some things about her softball character. But he couldn’t know. You can never really know.

That’s the way it is for any recruit, any sport.

In Fowler’s case, she was going from Canyon del Oro High School, where she was a two-time Gatorade National Player of the Year, to Arizona, her dream school. How would she react to being the immediate ace for a storied program, playing in the best conference in the country, pitching in the biggest games, being on the postseason stage?

It turns out that what Candrea suspected all along is true.

“She’s stable,” he said after Fowler and the Wildcats turned back BYU 2-1 in the first game of a best-of-three Super Regional on Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium. (Read our game blog.)

“She doesn’t get too high. She doesn’t get too low. She has maturity for a freshman. Game maturity.”

Fowler showed that maturity during the regular season, but now the stakes are higher. Way higher. Arizona’s rightful place is in the Women’s College World Series, and it is largely up to Fowler to make sure the Cats get back to Oklahoma City.

It was a big step to win the first game of the series, although it took a seven-inning high-wire act Friday against BYU, one of the top hitting teams in the country. Fowler needed all of that maturity.

BYU had runners on base in every inning. The Cougars had runners in scoring position in four of those innings. Arizona’s defense compounded the problem by committing three errors.

Fowler faced Angeline Quiocho — one of the nation’s top sluggers with 28 home runs — four times, each time with a runner on base. Quiocho went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

“My heart beat a little faster when she was up,” Fowler said.

But it didn’t show. Fowler twice struck out Quiocho on a change-up. In the seventh, protecting that 2-1 lead, Fowler used high heat to sit down the BYU third baseman for the second out.

Clean-up hitter Andrea Ramirez, no slouch with 19 home runs, popped out to second to the end the game. She also went 0-for-4.

“Fowler is always good,” said BYU coach Gordon Eakin. “We hear a lot of stuff that she is hurt, and I’m sure she’s got her pains, but even when she’s hurt, she’s awfully good. … You have to give credit to Fowler. She picked it up when she needed to.”

Fowler was suffering from a pinched nerve in her neck, causing her pitching hand to swell, on the final weekend of the regular season. She said in Friday’s postgame news conference that she felt fine physically, a statement that prompted some hand-clapping from Candrea.

Later, Candrea was asked which of his other pitching greats had Fowler’s calm demeanor as a freshman.

“Alicia Hollowell was pretty sure. Nancy Evans. (Susie) Parra had a little bit of that,” he said.

It’s interesting to note that Fowler, at 34-6 with a 1.24 ERA — and with 322 strikeouts in 247 2/3 innings — has had a statistically superior season to Jennie Finch‘s rookie season in 1999.

“Finch was wound up like a rubber band,” Candrea said.

Fowler is not. She allowed six hits Friday, striking out 10, walking one and wiggling out of most of the trouble.

“I felt like I was strong through all the innings,” she said. “I did feel good about my performance.”

But she didn’t sound too excited when she said that. She doesn’t get too high or too low.

And, besides, there is much more work to be done Saturday.

SATURDAY
Arizona vs. BYU, 1:30 p.m., Hillenbrand Stadium, NCAA Super Regional
Arizona vs. BYU, 30 minutes after first game, Hillenbrand Stadium, NCAA Super Regional (if necessary)

*Winner of the best-of-three series advances to the Women’s College World Series, where it would play Tennessee in a first-round game. The Vols, seeded 15th in the tournament, upset No. 2 seed Michigan in a Super Regional.

Arizona got the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth, as Lini Koria singled sharply to center to drive in Brigette Del Ponte, who had doubled down the right-field line in the previous at-bat. That gave the Cats a 2-1 lead, with pitcher Kenzie Fowler needing to retire the top of the BYU order in the seventh to preserve the victory.

After allowing a leadoff single, Fowler got a force out at second, a strikeout and a popout to second baseman to end the game.

Arizona leads the best-of-three series 1-0, with Game 2 set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Hillenbrand Stadium. A third game, if necessary, will follow.

Check back later for postgame coverage from Game 1 … and here it is:

‘Stable’ Fowler feels good as Cats take Game 1 of Super Regional

***
BYU has been putting pressure on Arizona ace Kenzie Fowler all game, and the Cougars finally break through to tie the game at 1 in the top of the sixth.

Fowler didn’t help by walking the leadoff hitter, Alexandra Hudson, who went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Delaney Willard followed with a hit down the right-field line, and Hudson motored around third base. The throw from right fielder Karissa Buchanan appeared to have Hudson beat, but she slid in head first, touching the plate with her left hand, as the ball popped out of the glove of catcher Stacie Chambers on the tag.

***
Another great escape for Arizona. BYU, on an error, a hit by pitch, and a single, loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fourth. Kenzie Fowler got Amanda Vance-Kellum to hit into a fielder’s choice to third base, with Arizona getting the out at home. Fowler then struck out Jessica Dugas looking to end the inning. Arizona leads 1-0 going into the bottom of the fourth.

* * *
Arizona didn’t exactly crush the ball, but the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Lauren Schutzler reached base with one out on a bunt that died near home plate. K’Lee Arredondo followed by pushing a bunt past the charging third baseman. With two outs, Brigette Del Ponte blooped a pop-up into short left field.

Left fielder Caschjen Davis-Atagi was playing deep, respecting Del Ponte’s power, and couldn’t quite come in to make the play. The same was true for shortstop J.C. Clayton, who went back but couldn’t come up with the catch. The ball fell for a double as Schutzler scored.

* * *
Arizona and pitcher Kenzie Fowler dodges some trouble in the top of the first inning. A one-out two-base throwing error by third baseman Brigette Del Ponte put BYU’s J.C. Clayton in scoring position. Fowler then struck out one of the nation’s top sluggers, Angeline Quiocho (28 homers) on an off-speed pitch.

Clayton went to third on a wild pitch, but Fowler then struck out BYU’s other top slugger, Andrea Ramirez, with some high heat.

* * *
The first game of the best-of-three NCAA Super regional between Arizona and BYU is about to begin at Hillenbrand Stadium, but already there is a bit of news.

The winner of this series advances to the Women’s College World Series to play the winner of the Michigan-Tennessee Super Regional, which was completed Friday afternoon. The Vols, seeded 15th in the tournament, upset the second-host Wolverines in two games. On paper, at least, that seems to be a benefit to the winner of the Arizona-BYU series.

Buchanan

Bottom of the 12th inning. Arizona down by two runs. It was last Sunday, and the Wildcats were in trouble in the NCAA regional against Hofstra.

If UA lost, it would have to play another game against Hofstra, the loser eliminated from the NCAA tournament. Ace pitcher Kenzie Fowler was gassed, having pitched more than 11 innings. Backup pitcher Sarah Akamine was nursing a knee injury.

It looked like potential disaster.

Seemingly making matters worse, Arizona’s No. 9 hitter was up.

Except sophomore outfielder Karissa Buchanan, a Sabino High graduate, isn’t performing like any old No. 9 hitter.

It is one of coach Mike Candrea‘s hallmarks that his bottom-of-the-order hitter is really like a top-of-the-order hitter. It might seem no-brainer stuff now in college softball, but his lineup construction — speedy slap-hitting left-handers at the top and bottom of the order, sandwiching power hitters in the middle — was kind of revolutionary a couple of decades ago.

Buchanan perfectly fits the mold. She led off that 12th with a classic slap-hitting play: Hit the ball to the shortstop and run like crazy. She barely beat the throw to first and was on base when K’Lee Arredondo tied the game with a triple.

Arizona then went on to win 10-6 on a grand slam from Lini Koria.

“That was a pretty big game,” Buchanan said. “I don’t think I have ever played a game like that, coming back the way we did.”

Buchanan has made a nice comeback of her own. She hit .266 as the part-time right fielder last season. Not bad. Not great. This season, she has singled her way to a .387 batting average.

Here’s where it gets better: She led the team with a .426 batting average in Pac-10 games, when the opponents’ pitching got even tougher.

“She has been a real big blessing for us in the nine-spot,” Candrea said. “I look at the nine-spot now as an opportunity to get things started. I would say she has been our most improved player to this point.”

Some of the difference from last season to this season has been adjustments made by assistant coach Larry Ray, renowned as one of the top short-game instructors in the nation.

“Just slowing everything down,” she said. “I felt like last year I was in a rush in everything.”

A big part of the improvement, too, has been simple confidence. It was a blow to the ego to come from being a .500 hitter in high school to a .266 batter as a freshman. But a few more hits breeds a little more confidence, which breeds a few more hits, which breeds a little more confidence …

“It’s typical for a freshman to come in and struggle,” Ray said. “I don’t care what program they come from. Some of it is just awe of the place or the players who are surrounding them.

“But I really paid attention to Karissa over the years as to how she did against good pitching, and she was very successful. Now, she knows she can play at this level and put the ball in play against anybody.”

Buchanan has been this kind of successful lately: She is hitting .474 (27 of 57) in her past 19 games.

Arizona’s top of the order — with juniors Brittany Lastrapes and Schutzler batting 1-2 — will remain in intact for another year. Buchanan might have to wait until she’s a senior to move up in the batting order.

But, for now, it’s quite a comfort for Arizona to know she’s hitting ninth.

“She has a couple of good years ahead of her,” Candrea said.

FRIDAY
Arizona vs. BYU, 4 p.m., Hillenbrand Stadium, NCAA Super Regional

SATURDAY
Arizona vs. BYU, 1:30 p.m., Hillenbrand Stadium, NCAA Super Regional
Arizona vs. BYU, 30 minutes after first game, Hillenbrand Stadium, NCAA Super Regional (if necessary)

*Winner of the best-of-three series advances to the Women’s College World Series.

Mike Candrea will let pitcher Kenzie Fowler rest her arm for most of the week/2009 Tucson Citizen photo

Arizona had just played a 12-inning game, lasting 3 hours and 40 minutes, in the Tucson heat. Wildcats coach Mike Candrea, with his team in the midst of another postseason run, had specific instructions for the next day.

And it had nothing to do with softball.

After dispatching Hofstra on Sunday with a grand slam in the bottom of the 12th to cap a 10-6 come-from-behind victory and win an NCAA regional, Arizona took Monday off.

All the way off.

“Coach told us, ‘I don’t want to see any of you. I don’t want you to do anything. And I don’t you to see each other. Just take a break,’” center fielder Lauren Schutzler said.

“At this point in the season, we have been together for a long time, so sometimes you just need to get away and relax.”

The Wildcats regrouped Tuesday afternoon for practice in advance of this weekend’s Super Regional against BYU. The best-of-three series begins Friday at 4 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium. The second game will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, with a third game to follow, if necessary.

Candrea, who used the time away from the team to recover from an illness he has been battling, said he was just looking to recharge his players’ batteries.

“Really since January, we have had maybe one or two days when we weren’t together doing something. They run into each other even on their days off,” Candrea said.

“I think in this game, rest is sometimes overlooked. At this stage of the game, there is only so much we can do, and rest is as important as anything for us.”

It certainly is important to freshman pitcher Kenzie Fowler, who threw 202 pitches against Hofstra on Sunday, running into trouble in the top of the 12th. The Pride scored twice before Sarah Akamine came in and got the final two outs.

Fowler, who has battled a pinch nerve that has caused her pitching hard to swell, doesn’t figure to throw in practice until Thursday. Fowler (33-6, 1.25 ERA) is line to start Friday.

“With her right now, the key to this part of the season for her is to be able to rest and recuperate and then come out and give it everything’s she got for a weekend,” Candrea said.

NOTE: Arizona senior shortstop K’Lee Arredondo was selected a third-team ESPN The Magazine academic All-American, as voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America. Arredondo graduated earlier this month with a degree in psychology and a 3.55 grade-point average.

All seems right with Arizona softball again. The Wildcats have advanced to an NCAA Super Regional, which will played at home Friday and Saturday against BYU.

Arizona was pushed to 12 innings by Hofstra on Sunday, but the Cats rallied twice in extra innings. Matte Haack‘s pinch-hit home run tied the game at 4 in the bottom of the ninth, but Hofstra forged ahead with two runs in the top of the 12th.

Karissa Buchanan and Lauren Schutzler singled to put the tying runs on base, and then K’Lee Arredondo delivered a one-out, two-run triple into the right-center field gap. Hofstra intentionally walked the next two batters to set up a force at any base, but that didn’t matter when Lini Koria smashed a grand slam to win the game 10-6.

Arizona went 3-0 in the Tucson Regional. If Hofstra would have won, the teams would have played again in a winner-take-all game. That could have been dicey for the Cats, considering ace Kenzie Fowler had pitched 11 1/3 innings before Sarah Akamine finished up with two outs to get the win.

“That was probably the best performance I have seen as far as grit, fight and the never-give-up from the people out there,” UA coach Mike Candrea said in his post-game news conference.

“For K’Lee to come up as a senior and embrace the moment and come through in the clutch was huge. And with Lini, I told her, ‘Let’s do one for (Lini’s late mother)’ and boom. It was remarkable.

“It was one of the greatest wins. For the time, for what the game meant and for the situation we were in, it was one of the biggest games since I’ve been here.”

Arizona will play BYU in the best-of-three Super Regional, with the winner advancing to the Women’s College World Series. The Wildcats will be looking to advance to their 22nd World Series in the past 23 seasons.

To get there, they will have to conquer a good-hitting Cougars team that features a couple of premier senior sluggers.

Third baseman Angeline Quiocho, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, has 27 home runs and entered last week as the nation’s leader in homers (0.5 per game). First baseman Andrea Ramirez has 19 home runs and was 10th in the country at 0.35 per game.

The bracket has worked in Arizona’s favor so far. BYU upset seventh-seeded host Texas in regional play. If Texas had won, the Wildcats — seeded 10th in the tournament — would have had to travel to Austin for the Super Regional.

Now, there is more softball at Hillenbrand … always a good thing for the Cats.