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

Brigette Del Ponte

Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea, who had been hospitalized for two days after complaining about chest pain, sent a text to his players and staff on Tuesday morning.

Most importantly, it said he was OK, resting comfortably, able to go home.

And then Candrea, apropos of someone who just had a health scare, left a message for his team to take into its home game against San Diego State:

“Play for the moment.”

The Wildcats — buoyed by Candrea’s positive health news and playing to win one for their absent coach — defeated San Diego State 8-0 in a five-inning mercy-rule game in front of 2,360 at Hillenbrand Stadium on Tuesday night.

“I told the girls today, ‘Let’s play one for him,’” said assistant coach Larry Ray, who served as acting head coach.

“I don’t know if that worked or not, but they were relaxed and did the things they were capable of doing.”

Said sophomore pitcher Shelby Babcock: “It was really good motivation. We just did it for Coach.”

Arizona will play San Diego State again on Wednesday afternoon beginning at 3 p.m. Candrea’s return was uncertain as of Tuesday night, with Ray pointing toward Thursday’s practice.

“If he feels great and wants to take over (Wednesday), he’s welcome,” Ray said.

Babcock helped make it a stress-free night for the Wildcats, striking out one and walking none in five scoreless innings. Arizona scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning, powered by a three-run homer by Brigette Del Ponte.

Lini Koria added a solo shot to center field in the fourth, with Del Ponte pushing the lead to 8-0 later in the inning with a opposite field shot to right.

Del Ponte said it was a day of double relief: To hear directly from Candrea for the first time since he had suffered from what was called stress-related symptoms and to “score all those runs and keep the lead.”

Arizona (20-8) was coming off being swept in three games at Arizona State despite leading in every game, so the victory over San Diego State (18-18) also helped the Cats get over that emotional hangover.

“We were all so bummed,” said Del Ponte said, who is from the Phoenix area. “Those are my good friends over there and they keep sending my text messages, so it was tough. It was a tough weekend and a tough experience.”

Tuesday was a much better day.

NOTES
Starting left fielder Karissa Buchanan has missed the past three games after suffering a concussion at Arizona State on Friday night. She is not expected to play Wednesday against SDSU. Nicole Bryan started in her place… Del Ponte has seven home runs on the season; freshman shortstop Shelby Pendley leads with nine. … Del Ponte, a junior, has 45 career home runs, which ranks 13th on the UA list. Koria, a senior, is 12th with 46.

Jenae Leles, in addition to her stellar work at third base, finished her Arizona career in 2009 sixth in school history with 57 home runs.
2008 Tucson Citizen photo

Former Arizona Wildcats third baseman Jenae Leles has earned a spot on the USA Softball women’s national team, but current UA third baseman Brigette Del Ponte did not.

The 17-player team was announced Friday morning after a tryout camp this week, with one alternate also selected. There were 35 players at the camp.

Leles also was a member of the national team in 2009.

Team USA will compete this summer in the Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship in Surrey, B.C., from July 9-17 and the World Cup of Softball VI from July 21-25 in Oklahoma City.

The national team will then try to win its seventh consecutive title at the Pan American Games, which will be held Oct. 17-23 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Other Tucson ties on Team USA are former Kentucky infielder Molly Johnson (Sabino High School) and assistant coach Tairia Flowers, a Salpointe Catholic graduate and former U.S. Olympian. She is the head coach at Cal State Northridge.

Arizona State pitcher Dallas Escobedo, who earlier this month helped lead the Sun Devils to the national championship as a freshman, was not selected to the team.

Here is Team USA, which includes Oklahoma junior-to-be Keilani Ricketts, who led the Sooners to a sweep of Arizona in this season’s NCAA Super regional in Tucson:

Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif./California)
Whitney Canion (Aledo, Texas/Baylor)
Kaitlin Cochran (Yorba Linda, Calif./Arizona State)
Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md./Tennessee)
Kelly Grieve (Asheville, N.C./Tennessee)
Taylor Hoagland (Flower Mound, Texas/Texas)
Ashley Holcombe (Fayetteville, Ga./Alabama)
Molly Johnson (Tucson, Ariz./Kentucky)
Stacy Johnson (Reno, Nev./Iowa)
Megan Langenfeld (Bakersfield, Calif./UCLA)
Jenae Leles (Sacramento, Calif./Arizona)
Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla./Florida)
Christine Orgeron (New Orleans, La./ULL)
Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif./Oklahoma)
Brittany Schutte (Fountain Valley, Calif./Florida)
Jordan Taylor (Valencia, Calif./Michigan)
Rhea Taylor (Buford, Ga./Missouri)
Chelsea Thomas (Pleasantville, Iowa/Missouri)
Alternate - Jessica Shults (Valencia, Calif./Oklahoma)

Arizona third baseman Brigette Del Ponte makes a throw during a game against New Mexico State in May. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona Wildcats third baseman Brigette Del Ponte is trying out this week for the United States women’s national team in Chula Vista, Calif.

Del Ponte earned second-team All-America honors last season as a sophomore. She hit .337 and was second on the team in home runs (17) and RBIs (59).

Her main competition at the camp is expected come from former Arizona third baseman Jenae Leles, who has previous national team experience.

“It’s going to be tough, but you never know,” Del Ponte said.

Said Arizona coach Mike Candrea: “I think she’ll do OK. I think a year ago, she would have got swallowed up. Now, I think she understands how to make adjustments (at the plate). … It will be a great experience for her.”

That said, Candrea added that Leles’ age, experience and emotional stability would be a big edge.

“Jenae is like an old lady playing the game, and nothing bothers her,” Candrea said. “It’s kind of cool to see.”

There are no other Wildcats among the 35 players at the tryout camp. The 17-player squad will be announced Friday morning.

A full list of the players at the tryout camp can be found at USASoftball.com.

Arizona's power hitters did plenty of celebrating around home plate this weekend, as Stacie Chambers did Saturday. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona Wildcats softball team did what it should have done. It took care of business in the NCAA regional this weekend, capped by a 10-2 victory over Texas Tech on Sunday.

Whether it was the Red Raiders, or New Mexico State on Saturday, or Harvard on Friday, none of the opponents had the pitching to challenge Arizona.

The Wildcats won by a combined score of 28-2. That’s the way it often is in this round of the playoffs.

But those days are over.

Arizona will take on Oklahoma this weekend in a best-of-three Super Regional at Hillenbrand Stadium. Friday’s game begins at 8:30 p.m. (ESPNU). The teams will play Saturday at 2 p.m. and, if necessary, at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)

The Sooners beat UA 11-1 in a season-opening tournament in Tempe on February. They won again, 5-3, in the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., on March 17.

Oklahoma has one of the nation’s best pitchers — hard-throwing left-hander Keilani Ricketts, who ended the regular season fourth in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings (11.5).

“From here on out,” said coach Mike Candrea, “the margin of error becomes so slim.”

With the stakes, the pressure and the competition rising, here is a look at what’s going good and what’s going bad for the Wildcats:

GOOD NEWS — Kenzie Fowler

Arizona’s sophomore ace pitched all 19 innings at the regional, going 16 1/3 innings before allowing a run to Texas Tech on Sunday. She allowed two runs at the regional, and seemed to show little ill effects about starting on three consecutive days.

Fowler has been working on her endurance after missing nearly three weeks because of a concussion late in the regular season.

“Physically, I feel good,” Fowler said.

“I felt better as the weekend went on. I was a little tight in the Harvard game, just physically. My arm was a little tight, and then it loosened up through Saturday and Sunday. The heat helped me stay loose, that’s for sure.”

It might be a concern that Fowler retired the side in order in only two of her 19 innings, which is a dangerous way to live at this time of the season. But everybody around Arizona is feeling a lot better about the team’s postseason chances with the way she pitched this weekend.

Without her at something near her best, the Cats have no chance of going far.

“I was glad to see Kenzie get through three games and feel pretty good,” Candrea said.

BAD NEWS — Defense

Arizona has a young infield — with sophomores at the corners, junior Kristen Arriola at second and a pair of freshmen walk-ons at shortstop.

One of the those shortstops, Alex Lavine, let a high-hopping ball go off her glove Saturday as she moved toward second base to try to make a play. On Sunday, Arriola had a similar thing happen. Both plays were deemed hits by the official scorer, although Candrea might be scoring those as errors in his head.

Centerfielder Lauren Schutzler committed an error on Saturday when a fly ball went off her glove.

“Defensively right now, I don’t sleep at night really well,” Candrea said, “because we’re not there yet.”

GOOD NEWS — The middle of the order

Brigette Del Ponte, Stacie Chambers and Lini Koria combined to hit .433 (13 of 30) with four doubles, five home runs and 15 RBIs in regional play.

That’s a ton of production from the 3-4-5 hitters.

Koria was 6 of 10 with two home runs, including a grand slam.

Candrea’s message to her recently has to been to start her swing earlier, so she can slow down and not rush her swing.

“He is really big on telling me that I need to realize that I’m good when I’m relaxed,” Koria said. “I just found that happy medium I need to be in.”

Chambers’ two home runs at the regional gave her a school-record 87, just three off the NCAA record of 90 held by former UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman.

“I like where Chambers is, probably more so than at any time this year,” Candrea said.

“I think she is laying off some bad pitches and seeing the ball better. I just feel good about her ability to make some good decisions there.”

Chambers walked four times — once intentionally — in the three games.

BAD NEWS — The team’s overall mindset

Candrea has been outspoken, especially in the past week, about the need for his team to get fired up, to play at a consistently high emotional level, to have more vocal leadership from his veterans.

Arizona spent the past weekend playing with the lead; will this team have the fortitude to battle back if it falls behind Ricketts and Oklahoma?

“The big thing is I hope this team feels the sense of urgency to kind of clean their act up a little bit,” Candrea said.

It was a business-like reaction to winning the regional. In this case, Candrea wouldn’t have minded a little celebration.

“Like I told them, there is one thing I don’t take for granted, and that’s winning,” Candrea said.

“It’s huge when you’re winning in front of your fans. I’ve been in enough of these regionals to know it’s not a cakewalk, and it’s getting tougher every year. …

“The tough thing about Arizona softball is you don’t really see a lot of jubilation (after winning a regional) because it’s part of the process. And that’s a good thing. But on the other hand, with a team like this, I was hoping it would kind of ignite them a little bit to feel good about themselves and what they just accomplished.

“So, I guess we’ll see this week when we start practicing.”

GOOD NEWS — Brittany Lastrapes isn’t hurt

Lastrapes made a running, leaping catch at the left field fence in the bottom of the third inning Sunday, and, although it wasn’t a violent collision, she crumpled to the ground after throwing the ball back to the infield.

Uh-oh.

“I was like freaking out,” Fowler said. “I was like, ‘Get up.”

Lastrapes stayed on the grass for a couple of minutes, during which time the trainer and Candrea came out to check on her. Turns out, Lastrapes just had the wind knocked out of her.

Lastrapes, Arizona’s senior leadoff hitter and three-time All-American, is just fine.

“I just went in ribs-first,” she said of her collision.

Good thing Candrea put protective padding on the wooden wall after the 2008 season. Quite famously, centerfielder Caitlin Lowe went face-first into the wall in pursuit of a fly ball in the 2007 super regionals.

“I don’t even want to think what would have happened if it was still a wooden wall,” Lastrapes said. “I probably would have broken my rib.”

Brigette Del Ponte

Arizona has two players who have been selected to the list of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. Question is, why not three?

Freshman pitcher Kenzie Fowler and junior outfielder Brittany Lastrapes are on the list. Those are two no-brainer selections.

Fowler is 21-2 with a 0.83 ERA, and she threw her third five-inning no-hitter Wednesday in a doubleheader sweep of UTEP at Hillenbrand Stadium. Arizona won the first game 8-0 as Fowler struck out nine and walked two. The Cats won the second game 10-0, also in a mercy-rule five innings.

Second-ranked Arizona improved to 32-4.

Lastrapes, a 2009 All-American, is hitting .443 with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs from the leadoff spot. Her on-base percentage of .543 leads the team.

The Wildcat who could/should also be on the list is freshman third baseman Brigette Del Ponte, who entered the week leading the nation in RBIs per game (1.56 for 32 games). And that was before she homered in each game Wednesday, going a combined 4 of 5 with five runs batted in.

Del Ponte increased her RBI total to 55 — 1.62 per game. That’s in addition to hitting .419 and ranking in the national top 10 with 15 home runs.

It’s a strong list of 25 finalists, but you would think there would be room for one of the nation’s top sluggers.

The list of 10 finalists will be released May 12. The top 10 will be pared to three on May 26, with the winner being announced prior to the Women’s College World Series, which starts June 3 in Oklahoma City.

Arizona freshman Kenzie Fowler threw her second career no-hitter as the Wildcats softball team finished off a three-game sweep at New Mexico on Sunday, winning 14-0 in five innings.

Fowler (18-2) struck out eight and walked two. She also had three hits, including her first career home run.

Junior outfielder Brittany Lastrapes and freshman third baseman Brigette Del Ponte also hit home runs, keeping pace with each other for the team lead with 11. Arizona improved to 28-3.

UA begins Pac-10 play at Arizona State on Thursday at 7 p.m.