The NCAA News - News and Features

June 1, 1998

Fresno State turns one run into title run in I women's softball

The number "1" had different meanings for Women's College World Series combatants Fresno State and Arizona. For Arizona, "1" represented the number of runs the Wildcats allowed in four games during the series. For Fresno State, it represented where they finished in Division I women's softball.

Fresno State defeated the two-time defending champion Wildcats, 1-0, in the championship game of the series May 25 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Fresno State's championship was its first in any sport. The appearance in the final game marked the fifth appearance by the Bulldogs, who finished runner-up the previous four times.

Nina Lindenberg was responsible for the winning run with her solo home run in the sixth inning. The run was the first scored by Fresno State in its five championship-game appearances.

Lindenberg's shot came off Arizona pitcher Nancy Evans and was the first homer Evans had allowed since April 25. The run also broke Evans' streak of scoreless innings at 38, and it was the lone tally Arizona allowed during the entire series.

"Pretty much all year she (Evans) has thrown me the same pitch -- the inside fastball," Lindenberg said. "It was time for me to take one out."

Fresno State pitcher Amanda Scott hurled a complete-game shutout, her 14th of the season and second in the WCWS. Arizona suffered only its third shutout of the season.

The Wildcats had swept the three regular-season meetings between the teams.

Scott said that the championship-game shutout may have been her best performance of the year.

"With their hitters, that was probably my best game," she said. "You can't breathe easy with them from one to nine in their order, so that was probably my best game."

Fresno State completed a 52-11 season, while the Wildcats finished 67-4 and posted the most wins and the third highest single-season winning percentage in NCAA history. The Bulldogs are the first non-Pacific-10 Conference team to win top honors since Texas A&M earned the crown in 1987.

"I don't know if you can understand how long we've waited to hear that we are national champions," Fresno State head coach Margie Wright said. "These kids deserve to be national champions the way they played in this tournament."

Wright said one of the keys to victory was to keep the Bulldogs focused on the task at hand.

"From the day we started regionals, I've tried to keep these kids focused," she said. "I showed the team the brackets and showed them that we were a seven seed. I thought we were better than a seventh seed. I told the team that if they could get to this game that they would win. I woke up this morning believing we could win."

Arizona head coach Mike Candrea said, "I'm very proud of this team and what they've accomplished. Sometimes in defeat, you lose sight of the ride that got you here, and I don't want that to happen. I've got to give all the credit to Amanda Scott and Fresno State. She threw a great game, and we just couldn't generate anything."

The all-tournament team consisted of Scott, Lindenberg, Angela Cervantez and Laura Berg of Fresno State; Evans, Leah Braatz, Toni Mascarenas and Leticia Pineda of Arizona; Kelly Hauxhurst and Jennifer Spediacci of Washington; Kristi Bolle of Oklahoma State; and Ali Viola of Nebraska.

Game No. 1

Oklahoma St. -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- -- -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

Arizona -- 000 -- 001 -- x -- -- -- 1 -- 4 -- 0

Jenn Markert and Liz Silva; Nancy Evans and Leah Braatz. HR -- Toni Mascarenas (Arizona). W -- Evans. L--Markert.

Game No. 2

Massachusetts -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- -- -- 0 -- 3 -- 0

Washington -- 100 -- 000 -- x -- -- -- 1 -- 3 -- 0

Danielle Henderson and Kelly Buckley; Jennifer Spediacci, Jamie Graves (6) and Jeanine Giordano. W -- Spediacci. L -- Henderson. S -- Graves.

Game No. 3

Texas -- 010 -- 001 -- 0 -- -- -- 2 -- 4 -- 4

Michigan -- 700 -- 000 -- x -- -- -- 7 -- 4 -- 1

Christa Williams, Christy Guidorizzi (1) and Angie Scharnhorst; Sara Griffin and Melissa Gentile. HR -- Melissa Gentile (Michigan). W -- Griffin. L -- Williams.

Game No. 4

Fresno St. -- 012 -- 020 -- 1 -- -- -- 6 -- 13 -- 1

Nebraska -- 001 -- 000 -- 0 -- -- -- 1 -- 4 -- 1

Amanda Scott and Amber Wall; Jenny Voss and Jenny Smith. HR -- Angela Cervantez (Fresno St.). W -- Scott. L--Voss.

Game No. 5

Arizona -- 112 -- 4 -- 0 -- -- -- 8 -- 11 -- 0

Washington -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- -- -- 0 -- 1 -- 1

Nancy Evans and Leah Braatz; Jamie Graves, Jennifer Spediacci (1), Eve Gaw (5) and Jeanine Giordano. W -- Evans. L -- Graves.

Game No. 6

Michigan -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- -- -- 0 -- 0 -- 2

Fresno St. -- 020 -- 4 -- 2 -- -- -- 8 -- 8 -- 1

Sara Griffin, Jamie Gillies (5) and Melissa Gentile; Amanda Scott and Amber Wall. HR -- Amber Wall (Fresno St.). W -- Scott. L -- Griffin.

Game No. 7

Massachusetts -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- -- -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Oklahoma St. -- 001 -- 230 -- x -- -- -- 6 -- 8 -- 0

Danielle Henderson, Liz Wagner (5) and Kelly Buckley; Leanne Tyler and Liz Silva. HR -- Kristi Bolle (Oklahoma St.), Shannon Sullivan (Oklahoma St.), Liz Silva (Oklahoma St.). W -- Tyler. L -- Henderson.

Game No. 8

Nebraska -- 000 -- 200 -- 0 -- -- -- 2 -- 1 -- 1

Texas -- 000 -- 001 -- 0 -- -- -- 1 -- 4 -- 1

Jenny Voss and Jenny Smith; Christa Williams and Angie Scharnhorst. HR -- Nikki Cockrell (Texas). W -- Voss. L--Williams.

Game No. 9

Michigan -- 000 -- 100 -- 0 -- -- -- 1 -- 9 -- 3

Oklahoma St. -- 200 -- 100 -- x -- -- -- 3 -- 4 -- 1

Sara Griffin and Melissa Gentile; Amy Lopez, Jenn Markert (4) and Liz Silva. W -- Markert. L -- Griffin.

Game No. 10

Washington -- 000 -- 021 -- 0 -- -- -- 3 -- 6 -- 1

Nebraska -- 000 -- 000 -- 1 -- -- -- 1 -- 1 -- 2

Jennifer Spediacci and Jeanine Giordano; Jenny Voss and Jenny Smith. HR -- Eve Gaw (Washington), Ali Viola (Nebraska). W -- Spediacci. L -- Voss.

Game No. 11

Oklahoma St. -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- -- -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

Arizona -- 203 -- 000 -- x -- -- -- 5 -- 7 -- 0

Jenn Markert, Leanne Tyler (3) and Liz Silva; Nancy Evans, Becky Lemke (6) and Leah Braatz. HR -- Leah Braatz (Arizona), Leticia Pineda (Arizona). W -- Evans. L--Markert.

Game No. 12

Washington -- 003 -- 000 -- 0 -- -- -- 3 -- 8 -- 1

Fresno St. -- 000 -- 000 -- 1 -- -- -- 1 -- 3 -- 2

Jennifer Spediacci and Jeanine Giordano; Amanda Scott, Lindsay Parker (5) and Amber Wall. HR -- Amanda Scott (Fresno St.). W -- Spediacci. L -- Scott.

Game No. 13

Fresno St. -- 200 -- 022 -- 0 -- -- -- 6 -- 8 -- 2

Washington -- 100 -- 000 -- 0 -- -- -- 1 -- 3 -- 5

Lindsay Parker and Amber Wall; Jamie Graves, Jennifer Spediacci (6) and Jeanine Giordano. W--Parker. L-- Graves.

Championship game

Arizona -- AB -- R -- H -- RBI -- PO -- A

Alison McCutcheon, cf -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

Nicole Giordano, rf -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Toni Mascarenas, 3b -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 4 -- 0

Leah Braatz, c -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 4 -- 1

Leticia Pineda, 1b -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 4 -- 0

Nancy Evans, p -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 1 -- 4

Lindsey Collins, dh -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Katie Swan, 2b -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

Lauren Bauer, lf -- 2 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Michelle Churnock, ss -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1

Totals -- 24 -- 0 -- 3 -- 0 -- 18 -- 6

Fresno St. -- AB -- R -- H -- RBI -- PO -- A

Laura Berg, cf -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Becky Witt, lf -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Nina Lindenberg, 2b -- 3 -- 1 -- 3 -- 1 -- 0 -- 3

Amanda Scott, p -- 3 -- 0 -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 3

Jaime Maxey, 3b -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 3

Angela Cervantez, 1b -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 12 -- 0

Amber Wall, c -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 6 -- 1

Janna Todd, dh -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 --

Alicia Dowland, ss -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- 2 --

Candice Bowlin, rf -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Totals -- 24 -- 1 -- 8 -- 1 -- 21 -- 12

Arizona -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- -- -- 0 -- 3 -- 0

Fresno St. -- 000 -- 001 -- x -- -- -- 1 -- 8 -- 1

E -- Wall. LOB -- Arizona 3, Fresno St. 6. HR -- Lindenberg. SB -- McCutcheon, Mascarenas, Berg. SH -- Maxey.

-- IP -- H -- R -- ER -- BB -- SO

Evans (Loser) -- 6.0 -- 8 -- 1 -- 1 -- 0 -- 4

Scott (Winner) -- 7.0 -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 6

WP -- Evans. U -- Smith, Yarranton, Rudloff. T -- 1:36. A -- 4,324.