The Wildcats get ready to congratulate Chelsea Goodacre at home plate after her second home run of the game. Photo by Andy Morales, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona closes out Notre Dame with an 8-3 victory at an NCAA regional and will advance to play at Oklahoma next week for a best-of-three series in an NCAA Super Regional.

The Sooners, featuring ace pitcher Keilani Ricketts and a power-hitting lineup with super freshman Lauren Chamberlain, are seeded fourth overall in the NCAA tournament. They are no strangers to the Wildcats, who fell to visiting OU in the Super Regional round last season.

Arizona (38-17) swept through the Tucson regional at Hillenbrand Stadium, beating North Dakota State and Notre Dame twice.

* * *

More insurance: Jessica Spigner follows Chelsea Goodacre’s homer with a shot to center field for an 8-3 lead.

* * *

Insurance: Chelsea Goodacre launches her second home run of the game, a solo shot, with one out in the seventh. That gives the Cats a 7-3 lead.

* * *

On to the seventh. Shelby Babcock works around a one-out double in the sixth, and the Wildcats carry a 6-3 lead, needing only three more outs.

* * *

Arizona quickly turns around momentum with a pair of home runs to lead off the fifth inning — a blast from Shelby Pendley (her team-high 19th of the season) and another from Chelsea Goodacre, her seventh. Coach Mike Candrea this week said Pendley has a chance to be about as good as anybody he’s ever had at shortstop — which is saying A LOT.

Arizona gets the lead to 6-3.

* * *

Strange play in the bottom of the fourth. With a runner on first, second baseman Kristen Arriola fielded a line drive on a short hop, with base runner Emilee Koerner headed back to first, anticipating a line out. When the ball bounced, Arriola had an easy force out at second, and then the throw back from shortstop Shelby Pendley hit Koerner.

The trio of umpires met to discuss the play, with the coaches involved, and then called interference on the runner, which means the batter, Katey Haus (who would have been easily safe otherwise) was called out by rule. (Koerner didn’t appear to be out of the baseline, but the umps must have thought so.)

A big call?

You bet, because Notre Dame followed with a single and a two-run homer from Chloe Saganowich, whose high fly ball landed just inside the left-field foul pole.

It’s now Arizona 4, Notre Dame 3.

* * *

Oklahoma has won its regional, so the winner in Tucson will be headed to Norman next week for a best-of-three Super Regional.

* * *

Notre Dame gets one back in the bottom of the third, but it could have been worse for Arizona after the Irish opened the inning with a double and a single. Chloe Saganowich scored on a sacrifice play.

The key defensive play came with runners on first and third and one out. Amy Buntin hit a grounder to shortstop Shelby Pendley, who had an easy out at second base or first base. Instead, she fired home to catcher Lini Koria as Jenna Simon tried to slide around her.

Koria wasn’t able to make the tag, but Simon couldn’t reach the plate and over-slid home. Koria looked to the ump, who hadn’t made a call, ans she realized it was still a live play. Koria then tagged out Simon, who was trying to scrambling back to the plate.

Arizona pitcher Shelby Babcock then got a fly out from Dani Miller to end the inning.

UA leads 4-1.

* * *

Sometimes, softball is like this: Arizona hit almost nothing hard in the second inning, but had six consecutive hits with two outs and scored four runs. In the third, the Wildcats rocketed three shots all over the field, but lined out to right, center and shortstop in a 1-2-3 inning.

* * *

A huge two-out rally gives Arizona the lead in the top of the second inning.

Jessica Spigner got things going with a walk, and Kristen Arriola managed to place a grounder between third base and shortstop to move Spigner to second. Likewise, Chelsea Suitos didn’t hit the ball hard, but she managed a single through the circle and into shallow center field.

The throw home from Alexa Maldonado was high, and Spigner scored on a head-first slide to the plate.

An infield hit from Karissa Buchanan loaded the bases and Hallie Wilson fought off an inside pitch and blooped it onto the outfield grass behind second base, scoring two.

The hitting just kept coming, with Brigette Del Ponte driving in another with a single to left to make it 4-0.

Catcher Lini Koria got in on the action, beating out a grounder deep into the hole at shortstop, loading the bases. The very fine rally ended there, with shortstop Shelby Pendley flying out to center, making her second out of the inning.

* * *

The winner of this regional advances to next weekend’s Super Regional … and it’s now almost certain that Super Regional will be hosted by Oklahoma. The Sooners, seeded fourth overall in the NCAA tournament, are up 5-0 on Oregon today, just a couple of innings away from closing the championship of their regional.

* * *

Arizona is the designated visiting team and will be facing Notre Dame starter Laura Winter. She allowed five hits and three runs in three innings, striking out two and walking one.

* * *

Back at Hillenbrand Stadium for the championship game (or games, perhaps) of the Tucson regional in the softball postseason.

It will be Arizona vs. Notre Dame, a rematch of Saturday’s winners’ bracket game, won by the Wildcats 7-2. The Irish bounced back to defeat North Dakota State on Saturday night to make it to today.

UA is 2-0 in the double-elimination tournament, so it has some margin of error. If the Irish win the first game today, the teams will play again.

As expected, sophomore Shelby Babcock, who pitched a perfect inning of relief on Saturday, will get the start for the Wildcats.

Kenzie Fowler struck out six and walked none vs. Notre Dame on Saturday. ESPN3.com screenshot

Arizona Wildcats pitcher Kenzie Fowler started 22 games in the regular season but never did what she accomplished in her first postseason start of the year.

She, encouragingly, did not walk a batter.

Fowler, whose junior season has been marked with the most enduring struggles of her career, helped lead Arizona to a 7-2 victory over Notre Dame in the winners’ bracket of an NCAA regional at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday.

The UA advances to the championship game Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against Notre Dame, which beat North Dakota State on Saturday night to advance in the double-elimination regional. The Wildcats will have two chances, if necessary, to win and advance to next week’s Super Regional.

Fowler worked in and out of trouble Saturday, as the Irish had at least one runner in scoring position in four of the six innings she pitched. But she often got the big outs, and didn’t make things worse by giving away free passes to first base.

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Shelby Babcock works a perfect seventh inning to finish off a 7-2 victory for the Arizona Wildcats in an NCAA regional at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Arizona (2-0 in the double-elimination regional) advances to play in Game 6 of the regional Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against Notre Dame, which came back Saturday night to beat North Dakota State. If UA loses Game 6, the teams will play once more for the right to go to an NCAA Super Regional next weekend.

* * *

Shelby Babcock comes in to get the final three outs for Arizona. Fowler allowed two runs, none earned, in six innings, allowing eight hits. She did not walk anyone — which has been an area of emphasis for UA in the past couple of weeks.

* * *

Arizona extends the lead in the top of the seventh.

Hallie Wilson led off with an in field hit and went to third when Bridgette Del Ponte beat out a bunt and second baseman Jenna Simon, covering first, let the throw go off her glove.

Shelby Pendley delivered a one-out single to right to drive in Wilson; Del Ponte scored from third by one batter later by beating out a fielder’s choice to first base.

So … the Cats are up 7-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

* * *

Kenzie Fowler works around a leadoff double, retiring the next three batters in the bottom of the sixth. Notre Dame has had had a runner at least on second in four of the six innings, but Fowler has mostly gotten the big outs when she has needed them.

Fowler — or perhaps Shelby Babcock, who has been warming up — needs only three more outs to close this one out. Arizona leads 5-2 going to the seventh.

* * *

Alex Lavine comes for Chelsea Suitos to play right field in the bottom of the sixth, a fairly common late-game move for coach Mike Candrea.

* * *

Arizona gets out of the fifth inning without giving up any more runs to Notre Dame, which had runners on first and second with no outs after scoring an unearned run. Facing the heart of the order, pitcher Kenzie Fowler got Amy Buntin to pop out meekly to first base, struck out Dani Miller … and then UA center fielder Hallie Wilson ended the inning with a great play.

Running back back on a line drive from Emilee Koerner, Wilson reached above her head and snagged the ball for the final out of the inning. That earned her a high five from Fowler as she ran back to the dugout.

Arizona leads 5-2.

* * *

Notre Dame scored its second run of the game — both unearned — after Jenna Simon led off the bottom of the fifth by slapping a liner to left field, which the ball glancing off the glove of Karissa Buchanan, who had to go back on the ball. Alexa Maldonado followed with a sharp RBI single to center, driving in Simon from second base.

UA leads 5-2, with the Irish still batting in the inning.

* * *

Arizona pushes the lead to 5-1 in the top of the fourth on a two-out single by Brigette Del Ponte. With the bases loaded, Del Ponte hit an opposite-field flair just over second baseman Jenna Simon, driving in Chelsea Suitos and Karissa Buchanan.

* * *

Top of the fourth: New pitcher for the Irish — Brittany O’Donnell.

* * *

Coach Mike Candrea said this week he has gotten more out of freshman shortstop Shelby Pendley than he had a right to expect. Pendley, who torn an ACL while playing for the U.S. Junior National team last summer entered school unsure if she would be able to play this season … and if she was able to, she might be limited to designated hitter duties.

But she has started the whole season at shortstop and hit a team-high 18 home runs.

But at this point of the season, her body is ailing in several areas (knee, hip, foot) and she appeared to hurt one of those areas while trying to field a grounder in the hole in the bottom of the third. She twisted as she throw wide to first for an error.

Candrea and the trainers came out, although Pendley stayed in the game. Notre Dame went on to score a run, eventually scoring on an infield hit. Arizona avoided further damage when Pendley booted a two-out grounder with runners on first and second, but recovered to get a force out at third base.

* * *

Arizona scores two more runs in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead.

Kristen Arriola led off a with a double down the left-field line and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Chelsea Suitos. Leadoff hitter Karissa Buchanan then slapped a soft grounder to shortstop and Arriola, running on contact, scored while Buchanan beat the throw to first.

The next batter, Hallie Wilson, put down a bunt toward third and was safe at first, while Buchanan raced all the way around to third base because no one was covering the bag. Brigette Del Ponte drove in a run with a one-out single up the middle.

The Cats later loaded the bases but missed a chance to blow the game the open as Chelsea Goodacre hit a lazy fly to right to end the inning.

* * *

Kenzie Fowler works out of trouble in the second inning after Notre Dame reached base on a bunt single and a hit to left. With one out, Fowler worked outside to strike out Kasey O’Connor on a 2-2 pitch, and then she struck out Chloe Saganowich, also on an outside pitch.

Fowler has struck out four in two innings. Arizona leads 1-0.

* * *

One Pac-12 team is already through to the Super Regionals. Oregon defeated BYU today to advance.

* * *

Kenzie Fowler works a 1-2-3 first inning for the Wildcats, effectively throwing her changeup for strikes, including punching out Kelsey Thornton looking. Leadoff batter Alexa Maldonado thought she had drawn a walk, making it all the way to first base, before being called back by the home plate umpire because it was only a three-ball count. Maldonado bounced out to first base on the next pitch.

* * *

After two quick outs in the top of the first inning, Arizona junior third baseman Brigette Del Ponte hits her 15th home run of the season, a line shot to left that just clears the fence above the sign honoring the retired jersey of Jenny Dalton.

* * *

Arizona is the visiting team today, with senior outfielder Karissa Buchanan leading off for the second consecutive game, bumping Hallie Wilson down to the No. 2 spot in the order. Buchanan finished strong in the regular season, including a four-hit game in the finale. Coach Mike Candrea said Buchanan, a slap hitter who has is hitting .333 (35 hits, all singles) seemed to become more focused in the past few weeks.

* * *

Notre Dame’s starting pitcher is Laura Winter, who is 28-9 with a 1.90 ERA. She has 274 strikeouts and only 23 walks in 247 innings.

* * *

At Hillenbrand Stadium this afternoon for a NCAA regional winners’ bracket game between Arizona and Notre Dame.

The winner of this game is in the driver’s seat of the regional, advancing to Sunday, getting two chances to win one game. The loser has to play later tonight facing the winner of the elimination game between Hawaii and North Dakota State, which will begin following today’s first game.

Arizona coach Mike Candrea is sending junior Kenzie Fowler to the circle against the Irish, which upset Hawaii on Friday night. Fowler has struggled this season, entering the game with a 14-8 record and a 2.83 ERA.

Check back here for in-game updates and analysis …

Chaparral's Dylan Cozens rounds the bases after hitting a home run to win the state Division I title. Photo by Tom Tingle/The Republic

Arizona football signee Dylan Cozens capped a superb baseball season by hitting a walk-off home run Tuesday night to lift Scottsdale Chaparral High School to the Division I state championship.

Cozens’ state-leading 19th-home run of the year gave Chaparral a 5-3 win over Phoenix Brophy Prep.

The left-handed hitting Cozens (6-5, 235) shattered the school single-season record for home runs, previously held by major-leaguer Paul Konerko (13).

This was Cozens’ first season of playing baseball at Chaparral, after being kicked off the Scottsdale Desert Mountain team last spring.

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Solomon Hill will get to show more of his small forward skills as a senior. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

It’s a fun game to play at this time of the year: Predict the lineup.

All the more entertaining with the Arizona Wildcats basketball team, which has undergone a roster makeover that includes the addition of one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. And size. Plenty of size.

Coach Sean Miller, much to his regret, had to play small last season — 6-foot-7 Jesse Perry at center, 6-6 Solomon Hill at power forward and 6-3 Kyle Fogg often at small forward.

The re-configured lineup for 2012-13 gives Miller plenty of mix-and-match opportunities. The team is nicely balanced now between the backcourt and the frontcourt. From this great preseason distance, it appears as if competition for minutes could be fierce, always a good thing.

But with all the potential lineup combinations, Miller would like to start with this premise:

Hill, who earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors last season as an undersized power forward, will absolutely not play that position as a senior.

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Tedy Bruschi's energy and passion made him a fan favorite at Arizona. Photo by Stephen Dunn, Getty Images Sport (1994)

UPDATE: According to ESPN.com, the College Football Hall of Fame has a rule that prevents a school having players inducted in back-to-back years. A ridiculous rule, to be sure, and, if true, Bruschi couldn’t have made it this year because Rob Waldrop got in last year. Then why even have Bruschi on the ballot?

Tedy Bruschi will make the College Football Hall of Fame some day. Today was not that day.

Bruschi, the emotional engine of the Arizona Wildcats’ famed Desert Swarm defenses, was not among the 14 players selected Tuesday morning to this year’s induction class. He was appearing on the ballot for the third time.

Before he would go on to play linebacker for the New England Patriots, appear in five Super Bowls and inspire with his return from a 2005 stroke, Bruschi was the popular, high-energy sack master for Arizona.

Bruschi, as a speedy and relentless defensive end, made 52 sacks for the Wildcats, tied for the most in NCAA history with Alabama’s Derrick Thomas.

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Mike Candrea watches the NCAA tournament selection show from his home Sunday night. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona softball team, after an uneven season and facing a difficult path to the Women’s College World Series, will enter the NCAA tournament with plenty of questions.

Coach Mike Candrea wants his players to consider only one.

“Why not us?”

Arizona is seeded 13th in the postseason and will be host a four-team, double-elimination regional at Hillenbrand Stadium beginning Friday.

WAC regular season champion Hawaii is expected to provide the toughest competition for Arizona. Notre Dame will take on Hawaii at 2:30 p.m. Friday, followed by Arizona vs. North Dakota State at 5 p.m. ESPNU will telecast all the regional games from Tucson.

If Arizona advances to the Super Regional, it likely will have to travel at play at fourth-seeded Oklahoma, the team that eliminated the Wildcats in this round of last year’s tournament. The Sooners still have pitching star Keilani Ricketts.

But back to that question: Why not us?

Said senior outfield Karissa Buchanan: “It’s a great question.”

Candrea, always searching for a postseason theme, came across that one last week after assistant coach Stacy Iveson showed the team ESPN’s “30 for 30″ special on the 2004 Boston Red Sox, which rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the New York Yankees.

Pitcher Curt Schilling helped lead the “Why not us?” rallying cry for those Red Sox, which went on to win the World Series under manager Terry Francona, a former Arizona Wildcat star outfielder.

After the team watched the video last Wednesday, Candrea arranged for Francona to walk through the clubhouse door.

“It was awesome,” Buchanan said.

“Watching him on the video and then seeing him walk through the door, it was like, ‘Wow.’ We were all surprised. It was really cool.”

Francona, who has relocated to Tucson following his dismissal from the Red Sox after last season, talked to the softball team for about 30 minutes.

“It was basically about respect the game you’re playing, whether it’s baseball or softball,” said Francona, who had two daughters play softball at North Carolina.

“You’re there for your teammates and you all have to be going in the same direction. You’re not pointing fingers. … I let them ask questions, and it was fun for me, too.”

Arizona finished the regular season at 35-17 overall and 12-12 in the Pac-12, tied for fourth. The team batting average of .298 is only seventh among the nine teams in the league. The team ERA of 2.95 is only fifth.

There is seemingly less reason to believe in these Wildcats entering the postseason than any UA squad since before Arizona won its first of eight national titles in 1991.

“One of the challenges we’ve had all year is getting our players, in my eyes, to really believe they can get it done,” Candrea said.

“I think they faked it pretty good at times, but I want kids who are going to go out there and compete, lay it all on the table. I think the big thing about this game is you have to care a lot about it.

“Right now, today, this team cares a little bit more about this game than they did two weeks ago. And, so, I’m optimistic that you’re going to see their best effort put forward.”

So, Candrea will continue to ask: Why not us?

“Do we have some dents in our armor? Do we go into postseason where I’m feeling really good about everything? Probably not? But it is what it is right now, and we’ll do our part to bring that all together and maybe get some kids to overachieve and get back to that competitive mode.”

NCAA REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Game 1 — Friday, 2:30 p.m.: Hawaii vs. Notre Dame
Game 2 — Friday, 5 p.m., Arizona vs. North Dakota State
Game 3 — Saturday, 3 p.m.: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 — Saturday, 5:30 p.m.: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Game 5 — Saturday, 8 p.m.: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Game 6 — Sunday, 2:30 p.m.: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Game 7 — Sunday, 5 p.m.: Repeat Game 6, if necessary

The Arizona Wildcats softball team awaits its postseason destination and opponents, which will be announced on a selection show, beginning at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

Arizona finished the regular season Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 walk-off victory over Oregon State, with junior third baseman Brigette Del Ponte blasting a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

The Cats finished the season with a 35-17 record, 12-12 in the Pac-12.

By taking two of three from the Beavers to end the regular season, Arizona hopes it did enough to be one of 16 hosts for NCAA regionals, which begin at the end of the week.

“I know one thing about this team,” coach Mike Candrea said. “They know they can come from behind.”

Arizona did that Saturday.

Oregon State took a 1-0 lead on a fourth-inning home run from Lea Cavestany, while the Cats, for the second game in a row, had a difficult time mustering anything off pitcher Marina Demore, who shut out Arizona on Friday night.

Arizona first baseman Jessica Spigner provided the needed shot in the arm for UA, lining a one-out homer in the sixth to tie the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, outfielder Karissa Buchanan beat out a chopper to third — her fourth hit of the game — and then Del Ponte followed with the game-ending homer.

“Pretty awesome day,” said senior catcher Lini Koria. “Just ending on a weekend like that is going to get us on a roll.”

Sophomore pitcher Shelby Babcock (19-9) allowed only five hits, striking one nine and walking one.

“I was really pleased with Babcock’s performance to give us a chance to win that game,” Candrea said. “That was huge for us.”

Related: Marriage proposal highlights Arizona softball’s Senior Day

Arizona Wildcats senior Nicole Bryan didn’t know where to go, where to stand, what to do.

It was Senior Day at Hillenbrand Stadium, always a big deal around the program, often teary, with seniors surrounded by family, introduced to the crowd with the public address announcer reading a deliberately sappy script about the player’s career.

It’s an Arizona tradition.

Bryan’s introductions, capped with a hug from coach Mike Candrea, had just finished near home plate Saturday after the Cats’ 3-1 walk-off victory over Oregon State.

For as thrilling as that game was, for as emotional as Senior Day is, Bryan’s memorable afternoon had just begun.

“I was standing next to Coach and he was like, ‘Wait here, wait here,’” Bryan said.

“I was like, ‘I thought were taking a picture. Where am I supposed to be standing. I don’t know what to do.”

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Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea, a dogged New York Yankees fan who has a room in his house dedicated to Mickey Mantle memorabilia, needed the help of a former Boston Red Sox manager this week.

He said assistant coach Stacy Iveson wanted to show the team “Four Days in October” — ESPN’s 30 for 30 special about the 2004 Red Sox, which won four consecutive games in the American League Championship Series after being down 0-3 to the Yankees.

(This is something Iveson also used as motivation when she was head coach at Yavapai Community College last season.)

Candrea took the idea a step further and said, “Why don’t we bring in Terry Francona to talk to the team?”

And so he did.

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