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NCAA News Archive - 2002
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Bears' Forest outduels Arizona's Finch
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STAFF WRITER
OKLAHOMA CITY --For California pitcher Jocelyn Forest, facing Pacific-10 Conference rival Arizona on a national stage with the NCAA title on the line likely was easier than facing the Wildcats just six weeks ago in a regular-season home game.
That was when the senior pitcher, after taking a week off in April to mourn the death of her sister, returned to the mound and threw without practice against defending national champion Arizona. Forest was a magician then, allowing just one hit, and she repeated the feat in the Women's College World Series title game May 27 to claim California's first national championship in any women's sport.
The Golden Bears' 6-0 victory over Arizona and ace Jennie Finch stopped the Wildcats' bid for a sixth title. Forest was named as the most outstanding player of the tournament after winning four games. The senior struck out 33 and allowed only nine hits over 28 innings.
"Sometimes (personal tragedies) are things that pull a team together," Arizona head coach Mike Candrea said. "I think they played with a lot of emotion, a lot of heart and a lot of togetherness."
Finch, who had gone 32-0 in 2001, held the Golden Bears scoreless until the seventh inning when a two-out rally resulted in all of California's runs. Candace Harper came to the plate with runners at first and second, and her single scored a run. An intentional walk to Veronica Nelson, who owns the NCAA record for career walks, and a walk to Courtney Scott scored another run for California. With the bases loaded, Jessica Pamanian doubled to plate three more.
After an Arizona pitching change, Chelsea Spencer drove in another run to complete the scoring in the championship game. Arizona's Mackenzie Vandergeest managed the only hit off Forest, who struck out eight batters in the game.
Although it was the ninth meeting of Pac-10 teams in the national title game, California joined UCLA and Arizona as the only conference teams to win the championship. The Golden Bears had made four consecutive trips to the Women's College World Series but had not previously advanced to the title game.
"Year after year, we came back, and we knew we could win it," Harper said. "Every year there was more opportunity, more hope. This year, it all came together. Everything was going our way. We knew as long as we kept fighting, it was going to happen for us."
California cruised to the title game with a 3-0 win over Arizona State, while Arizona was challenged in the semifinals with an 11-inning battle against Florida State. Back-to-back home runs in the top of 11th inning put the Wildcats back in the championship.
Spencer and Nelson joined Forest on the all-tournament team for California, while Arizona placed Finch, Jackie Coburn and Leneah Manuma on the squad. Also on the team were Arizona State's Erica Beach and Kristin Farber; UCLA's Natasha Watley, Keira Goerl and Stacey Nuveman; and Florida State's Leslie Malerich.
Women's College World Series
Game No. 1
| Florida St. | 000 | 100 | 001 -- 2 | 4 | 2 |
| UCLA | 100 | 000 | 000 -- 1 | 6 | 3 |
Leslie Malerich and Kimmy Carter; Keira Goerl and Stacey Nuveman. W -- Malerich. L -- Goerl.
Game No. 2
| Oklahoma | 000 | 002 | 0 -- 2 | 5 | 4 |
| California | 003 | 010 | x -- 4 | 6 | 0 |
Jennifer Stewart and Heather Scaglione; Jocelyn Forest and Courtney Scott. W -- Forest. L -- Stewart.
Game No. 3
| Michigan | 000 | 100 | 0 -- 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Arizona St. | 000 | 002 | x -- 2 | 4 | 0 |
Marissa Young and Monica Schock; Erica Beach and Adriana Garcia. W -- Beach. L -- Young.
Game No. 4
| Nebraska | 000 | 000 | 0 -- 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Arizona | 000 | 100 | x -- 1 | 3 | 0 |
Peaches James and Amber Burgess; Jennie Finch and Mackenzie Vandergeest. W -- Finch. L -- James.
Game No. 5
| California | 000 | 010 | 0 -- 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Florida St. | 000 | 000 | 0 -- 0 | 2 | 1 |
Jocelyn Forest and Courtney Scott; Leslie Malerich and Kimmy Carter. W -- Forest. L -- Malerich.
Game No. 6
| Arizona | 000 | 000 | 01 -- 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Arizona St. | 000 | 000 | 00 -- 0 | 1 | 0 |
Jennie Finch and Mackenzie Vandergeest; Erica Beach and Adriana Garcia. W -- Finch. L -- Beach.
Game No. 7
| UCLA | 010 | 010 | 0 -- 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 000 | 000 | 0 -- 0 | 1 | 2 |
Keira Goerl and Stacey Nuveman; Jennifer Stewart, Angela Wedlake (6) and Heather Scaglione. W -- Goerl. L -- Stewart.
Game No. 8
| Nebraska | 000 | 010 | 0 -- 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Michigan | 000 | 000 | 0 -- 0 | 1 | 1 |
Leigh Ann Walker, Peaches James (6) and Amber Burgess; Nicole Motycka, Marissa Young (7) and Monica Schock. W -- Walker. L -- Motycka.
Game No. 9
| Arizona St. | 002 | 000 | 0 -- 2 | 4 | 1 |
| UCLA | 000 | 001 | 0 -- 1 | 6 | 0 |
Erica Beach and Adriana Garcia; Amanda Freed, Keira Goerl (4) and Stacey Nuveman. W -- Beach. L -- Freed.
Game No. 10
| Florida St. | 000 | 040 | 0 -- 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 001 | 020 | 0 -- 3 | 5 | 3 |
Leslie Malerich and Kimmy Carter; Peaches James, Leigh Ann Walker (4) and Amber Burgess. W -- Malerich. L -- James.
Game No. 11
| Arizona St. | 000 | 000 | 0 -- 0 | 1 | 1 |
| California | 300 | 000 | x -- 3 | 4 | 0 |
Erica Beach and Adriana Garcia; Jocelyn Forest and Courtney Scott. W -- Forest. L -- Beach.
Game No. 12
| Arizona | 000 | 110 | 000 | 04 -- 6 | 9 | 1 |
| Florida St. | 001 | 010 | 000 | 00 -- 2 | 5 | 3 |
Jennie Finch and Mackenzie Vandergeest; Jess van der Lind, Leslie Malerich (7) and Kimmy Carter. W -- Finch. L -- Malerich.
Championship
| California | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PO | Kaleo Eldredge, cf | |||
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Kristen Morley, rf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Candace Harper, 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Roni Rodrigues, pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Veronica Nelson, 1b | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Jen Deering, pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Courtney Scott, c | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |||
| Jessica Pamanian, 2b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Chelsea Spencer, ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Mikella Pedretti, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Kristen Bayless, lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Jocelyn Forest, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| Totals | 25 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 21 | 3 | |||
| Arizona | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PO | ||||
| Lovieanne Jung, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Courtney Fossatti, lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Jennie Finch, p/dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Leneah Manuma, 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | |||
| Mackenzie Vandergeest, c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Jackie Coburn, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Jenny Gladding, dh/p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Meaghan Finnerty, rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Crystal Farley, cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Lisha Ribellia, 2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | |||
| Totals | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 11 | |||
| California | 000 | 000 | 6 -- 6 | 6 | 1 | ||||||
| Arizona | 000 | 000 | 0 -- 0 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
E -- Eldredge, Manuma, Farley. DP -- Arizona 1. LOB -- California 9, Arizona 4. 2B -- Pamanian, Spencer. SB -- Jung. SH -- Eldredge, Pamanian, Fossatti, Finnerty.
| California | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | BF |
| Forest (W) | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 20 | 25 |
| Arizona | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | BF |
| Finch (L) | 6.2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 23 | 33 |
| Gladding | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
U -- Bryan Smith, Marty Makar, Harley Anderson. T-- 2:23. Attendance -- 5,055.
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