Arizona faced elimination four times in the Women’s College World Series, but the Wildcats’ confidence never wavered.

Instead, the program’s championship mettle was on full display as the Wildcats rallied from a one-game deficit in the championship series to defeat all-America pitcher Monica Abbott and the Tennessee Lady Vols for the national title in Oklahoma City June 6.

Arizona put an exclamation point on its come-from-behind effort by downing the Lady Vols, 5-0, in Game 3 of the series. Junior pitcher Taryne Mowatt, the tournament’s most outstanding player, finished an incredible performance at the WCWS by wiggling out of jams and eventually shutting out Tennessee for two straight games to help her program register its eighth NCAA championship.

Mowatt received all the offensive support she would need in the bottom of the fifth inning of the deciding game. Sophomore third baseman Jenae Leles delivered a two-run single, and senior second baseman Chelsie Mesa smacked a three-run homer off Abbott, who ended her career as the Division I record holder for wins (189), appearances (253), strikeouts (2,440), shutouts (112) and innings pitched (1,448).

“I had yet to make good contact with Monica and she threw me that same pitch probably 50 times before that,” Mesa said. “I stepped out of the box and told myself that she wasn’t going to throw it by me again, and I hit it. It was very hard to take my eye off that ball to touch first base. But as soon as it went over I was the happiest person on that field.”

Before the final victory, the Wild­cats, 50-14-1, had to win Game 2 of the championship series. Mowatt constantly pitched out of trouble and her teammates scratched across a run against Abbott in the 10th  inning of a 1-0 victory June 5.
To earn a shot at Tennessee, Ari­zo­na had to beat Pacific-10 Conference rival Washington twice.

“This was one of the most memorable College World Series I have been through in a long time,” said Wildcats coach Mike Candrea, who has led the program to all eight of its national championships. “With the grit and the focus, the relaxation, the fire, T-Mow (Taryn Mowatt), obviously, on the mound, and our seniors stepping up when it counted.”

Abbott, 50-5, had not allowed a run in the WCWS until the 10th inning of Game 2 of the final series.

Tennessee, 63-8, finished its best season by playing for the championship for the first time. The Lady Vols, who finished third in the WCWS the previous two seasons, were able to put people on base against Mowatt but couldn’t come up with a clutch hit in the final two games, stranding 26 runners.

“There is no way you can explain it to our team,” said Lady Vols senior centerfielder Lindsay Schultzler. “We are not walking away as failures, because we did something nobody else has done before at this school (advancing to the WCWS championship game). I think we represented well. Sometimes things just aren’t meant to be.”

Both Abbott and Mowatt put up staggering numbers in the tournament. Abbott struck out 75 batters in the WCWS, which would have been a record if not for Mowatt’s 76 Ks.

Mowatt threw eight complete games in Oklahoma City, which included more than 1,000 pitches in 60 innings. Mowatt excelled at limiting damage with runners on base.
“I definitely put myself in a lot of tough situations,” Mowatt said. “I just stuck with it and let them hit it into the defense. My defense was there behind me to make the plays.”

“The Pac-10 prepares you for weeks like this because we are used to going out every weekend and playing the very best,” Candrea said. “I never saw a doubt in my kids’ eyes. After our first loss, they did the same thing every day, they felt confident. Truthfully, they went out and had fun.”

Game 1
DePaul    001    000    0 — 1    0    0
Washington    002    100    x — 3    5    1
Tracie Adix, Becca Heteniak (4) and Jackie Tarulli-Fisher; Danielle Lawrie and Alicia Matthews. W — Lawrie. L — Adix. HR — Tyson (W), Watson (W).

Game 2
Arizona St.    000    000    0 — 0    1    0
Northwestern    001    001    x — 2    5    0
Katie Burkhart and Kristen Miller; Eileen Canney and Erin Dyer. W — Canney. L — Burkhart. HR — Williams (N).

Game 3
Tennessee    000    000    2 — 2    11    0
Texas A&M    000    000    0 — 0    0    0
Moncia Abbott and Shannon Doepking; Amanda Scarborough and Patti Wunderlich. W — Abbott. L — Scarborough.

Game 4
Baylor    000    010    000 — 1    2    0
Arizona    000    100    001 — 2    6    0
Lisa Ferguson and Chelsi Lake; Taryne Mowatt and Callista Balko. W — Mowatt. L — Ferguson. HR — Fox (A).

Game 5
Washington.    002    16 — 9    5    1
Northwestern    000    00 — 0    1    0
Danielle Lawrie and Alicia Matthews; Eileen Canney, Lauren Delaney (5) and Erin Dyer. W — Lawrie. L — Canney.

Game 6
Arizona    000    000    0 — 0    6    1
Tennessee    000    001    x — 1    2    0
Taryne Mowatt and Callista Balko; Monica Abbott and Shannon Doepking. W — Abbott. L — Mowatt.

Game 7
DePaul    000    020    1 — 3    6    0
Arizona St.    000    000    1 — 1    5    1
Tracie Adix and Jackie Tarulli-Fisher; Katie Burkhart and Kristen Miller. W — Adix. L — Burkhart. HR — Vojik (D).

Game 8
Texas A&M    100    021    0 — 4    7    1
Baylor    204    001    x — 7    9    1
Amanda Scarborough, Megan Gibson (3) and Patti Wunderlich; Lisa Ferguson and Chelsi Lake. W — Ferguson. L — Scarborough. HR — Gibson (T); Oberg (B).

Game 9
Arizona    000    020    1 — 3    10    0
DePaul    000    000    0 — 0    2    0
Taryne Mowatt and Callista Balko; Tracie Adix, Becca Heteniak (6), Stephanie Blagaich (7) and Jackie Tarulli-Fisher. W — Mowatt. L — Adix.

Game 10
Northwestern    240    100    0 — 7    7    1
Baylor    000    000    0 — 0    5    2
Eileen Canney and Erin Dyer; Kristen Shortridge, Lisa Ferguson (3) and Courtney Oberg. W — Canney. L — Shortridge. HR — Williams (N), Cooper (N), Pauly (N).

Game 11
Washington    000    000    0 — 0    4    0
Arizona    000    002    x — 2    3    1
Danielle Lawrie and Alicia Matthews; Taryne Mowatt and Callista Balko. W — Mowatt. L — Lawrie.

Game 12
Northwestern    000    000    0 — 0    2    2
Tennessee    200    001    x — 3    3    0
Eileen Canney and Erin Dyer; Monica Abbott and Shannon Doepking. W — Abbott. L — Canney.

Game 13
Arizona    201    014    0 — 8    12    0
Washington    000    100    0 — 1    4    1
Taryne Mowatt and Callista Balko; Danielle Lawrie, Caitlin Noble (6) and Alicia Matthews. W — Mowatt. L — Lawrie.

Championship series

Game 1
Tennessee    010    100    1 — 3    6    0
Arizona    000    000    0 — 0    4    0
Monica Abbott and Shannon Doepking; Taryne Mowatt and Callista Balko. W — Abbott. L — Mowatt. HR — Doepking (T), Clay (T).

Game 2
Arizona    000    000    000    1 — 1    4    1
Tennessee    000    000    000    0 — 0    7    1
Taryne Mowatt and Callista Balko; Monica Abbott and Shannon Doepking. W — Mowatt. L — Abbott.

Game 3
Tennessee    AB    R    H    RBI    BB    SO    PO    A
India Childs, lf    4    0    1    0    0    0    0    0
Erinn Webb, lf    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0
Nicole Kajitani, rf    3    0    0    0    0    1    0    0
Danielle Pieroni, rf    1    0    0    0    0    1    0    0
Lindsay Schultzler, cf    4    0    1    0    0    2    0    0
Tonya Callahan, 3b    3    0    1    0    1    2    0    3
Tiffany Huff, 1b    3    0    0    0    1    3    5    0
Shannon Doepking, c    2    0    1    0    2    0    7    0
Caitlin Ryan, pr    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0
Alexia Clay, dp    3    0    1    0    0    1    0    0
Liane Horiuchi, ss    2    0    0    0    0    1    4    1
Kenora Posey, 2b    2    0    2    0    0    0    2    0
Anita Manuma, ph    1    0    0    0    0    0    0    0
Monica Abbott, p    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1
Totals    28    0    7    0    4    11    18    5

Arizona    AB    R    H    RBI    BB    SO    PO    A
Caitlin Lowe, cf    4    1    4    0    0    0    1    0
K’Lee Arrendondo, lf    2    1    1    0    2    0    2    1
Jenae Leles, 3b    3    0    1    2    1    1    0    2
Jill Malina, pr    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    0
Chelsie Mesa, 2b    3    1    2    3    0    0    1    0
Sam Banister, 1b    3    0    0    0    0    1    5    0
Sarah Akamine, dp    3    0    0    0    0    2    0    0
Callista Balko, c    3    0    1    0    0    1    11    0
Adrienne Acton, rf    3    0    0    0    0    2    0    0
Taryne Mowatt, p    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1
Totals    26    5    10    5    4    7    21    4

Tennessee    000    000    0 — 0    7    1
Arizona    000    050    x — 5    10    1

E — Kajitani; Fox. LOB — Tennessee 12; Arizona 8. 2B — Balko. HR — Mesa. SH — Horiuchi; Arredondo. SB — Posey.

Tennessee    IP    H    R    ER    BB     SO    AB    BF
Abbott    6.0    10    5    5    4    7    26    31
Arizona    IP    H    R    ER    BB     SO    AB    BF
Mowatt    7.0    7    0    0    4    11    28    33

W — Mowatt. L — Abbott. WP — Mowatt. Umpires — Lori Bish, Bryan Smith, Jery Bark. Attendance — 5,533.