April 22, 2001

Box Score

TUCSON, AZ - The No. 4 California Golden Bears proved that they could play with the best in the country, dropping a pair of heartbreaks by the same 2-1 score to the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats on Sunday afternoon in front of 2,458 raucous Wildcat fans at Hillenbrand Stadium, the sixth largest crowd in school history.

Game one was resumed in the bottom of the first from Saturday night because of heavy rain and both teams needed extra innings to decide the outcome. An unearned run in the bottom of the eighth proved enough for the 2-1 final. Arizona scored another unearned run in the third of game two to take the 2-0 lead which proved enough as the Bears could only score a single run in the sixth. The Bears fall to 45-8 overall and 4-7 in the Pac-10, while the Cats improve to 46-7, 8-2 in the conference.

In game one, Cal had runners on first and second with no outs in the top of the fourth after junior Candace Harper led off the inning with a single up the middle and sophomore Veronica Nelson walked. Senior Paige Bowie then grounded out to the third baseman, allowing both runners to move up 60 feet. Sophomore Eryn Manahan tried to bunt for a base hit, but was thrown out at first for the second Cal out, holding both runners at their respective bases. Arizona's Becke Lemke then got sophomore Courtney Scott to strike out swinging to end the Bears' scoring threat in the fourth.

U of A's Jennie Finch gave Cal a scare in the fifth, as Due?as caught her fly ball at the base of the left field fence for the first out of the inning. Senior Amber Phillips then added support to junior Jocelyn Forest in the circle, fully extending herself on a line drive to center for the second out in the inning. Phillips, who has had shoulder trouble in the past, had to leave the game after the catch. After a Mackenzie Vandergeest single to left, Forest got the next batter to strike out looking to end the inning with the scoreless tie intact.

With 2-2 count and two outs in the top of the seventh, Jen Deering, entering the game as the designated player when Phillips came out in the fifth, picked a good time to hit her first home run in 2001. Deering's solo blast gave the Bears 1-0 lead.

Finch came up in the seventh with one out and proceeded to double off Harper's glove at third. Forest then got the next batter to strike out, but with two outs, Vendergeest singled down the left-field line to drive in Finch from second to tie the score, 1-1. Forest got the next batter to ground out to Harper at third, sending the game into extra innings.

After the Bears failed to score in the top of the eighth, Arizona came to bat, and, with one out, Forest walked the No. 1 batter Lauren Bauer, who later reached second and then third on a fielder's choice and a Cal error. The Cats finally won the game with a sacrifice fly, hit by Mascaranes to Due?as in center, scoring Bauer from third for the final, 2-1.

Forest, who had a no-hitter through 4.2 innings, kept the nations best hitting team to just two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out nine with two walks. She falls to 24-5 with the loss.

Lemke earned the win, improving to 14-2 on the year.

Nelson proved to be too big of an offensive threat, as Lemke walked her four consecutive times.

Arizona then struck first in game two, placing a single run on the board in the first inning on an RBI single by Mascaranes, driving in Bauer who leadoff the inning with a walk. The Cats struck again in the third with an unearned run, giving Arizona a 2-0 lead through three innings.

Harper broke up the Finch no hitter in the top of the fourth, sending a line-drive single up the middle, but the Bears could not put anything together in the inning.

Cal had runners on first and third in the top of the sixth with just one out, and a Nelson single to dead center brought in Due?as from third after she singled to right and went to second and then third on a Harper fielder's choice and an Arizona throwing error. Bowie followed with a ground out, moving Nelson to second with two outs and bringing Manahan to the plate who battled through a 2-2 count before popping out to the third baseman for the third out in the inning with the Wildcats ahead, 2-1.

Cal's Scott had her second hit in the game to leadoff the seventh, but Finch got the next three Cal batters to strikeout to end the game, 2-1.

The Bears host Santa Clara in a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 25 at 2 p.m., at Levine-Fricke Field before heading south to take on the UCLA Bruins for a single game on Friday, April 27 at 2 p.m., and then head north for a two-game series versus the Washington Huskies. Saturday, first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. while Sunday has a 1 p.m. start time.

Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, AZ
	           1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8   R  H  E
No. 4 California   0  0  0   0  0  0   1  0   1  5  1
No. 2 Arizona	   0  0  0   0  0  0   1  1   2  4  0
Pitching: Cal: Forest and Scott, Arizona: Lemke and Collins
2B: Finch (Arizona)
HR: Deering (Cal, 1)
WP: Lemke (14-2)	LP: Forest (24-5)	Save: None
Cal: (45-7, 4-6 Pac-10) Arizona: (45-4, 7-2 Pac-10)

Hillenbrand Stadium, Tucson, AZ, Game 2
	           1  2  3   4  5  6   7   R  H  E
No. 4 California   0  0  0   0  0  1   0   1  5  1
No. 2 Arizona	   1  0  1   0  0  0   X   2  6  1
Pitching: Cal: DiSalvio and Scott, Arizona: Finch and Collins
2B: Manuma (Arizona)
WP: Finch (20-0)	LP: DiSalvio(16-3)	Save: None
Cal: (45-8, 4-7 Pac-10) Arizona: (46-4, 7-3 Pac-10)