Editor’s note: This story appears in Sunday’s special section honoring retiring UA softball coach Mike Candrea.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Behind an indefatigable sprite of a pitcher and two hitters who turned nightmare plays into jubilation, the UA softball team defeated Tennessee 5-0 Wednesday to win the Women’s College World Series.
The UA has won two consecutive national titles and eight since 1991.
Pitcher Taryne Mowatt shut out the Volunteers for the second straight night and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Chelsie Mesa and Jenae Leles provided the key hits for the Wildcats. Mesa, a senior who has won two junior college national titles and two NCAA crowns, made up for her Friday error that contributed to the Wildcats losing that game.
Leles, who was almost in tears in the third inning after committing a base-running mistake that cost the UA a run, drove in two runs.
And for UA coach Mike Candrea, the way his team overcame adversity — winning five elimination games — made the win that much sweeter.
“For a coach, that’s probably more special to me than anything, the way they went about their business,” he said. “They kept calm, they kept cool, they kept composed, and they believed.”
They believed, in short, because of Mowatt.
Mowatt stranded 12 Volunteers on base Wednesday, bringing her two-day total to 26.
She allowed the lead runner to reach base in five straight innings, all but the first and last.
UA players, from left, Caitlin Lowe, Kristie Fox and Taryne Mowatt hold up the World Series trophy after they beat Tennessee to win the 2007 national championship.
Every time — in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings — the junior let a UT runner reach second base.
And every time, she escaped.
“I’ve seen it happen so many times,” Candrea said. “You get to the point where you get numb with it.”
The Volunteers spent extra time before Wednesday’s game working on hitting Mowatt’s changeup. It did not matter. With calls from pitching coach Nancy Evans, Mowatt sprinkled changeups liberally — and in every conceivable situation.
“I’ve not seen anything like that, that style of pitching,” Tennessee co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “She never showed us a pattern the whole time.”
Mowatt’s memorable right arm was exhausted after 1,035 pitches over six days.
“It kinda just feels dead,” she said. “It’s not really sore anymore. It feels really heavy. I haven’t got a good night’s rest the last two nights because I’d lay in bed, and I’d just ache.”
The victory made it feel better.
The Wildcats seemed to have figured out UT star pitcher Monica Abbott, getting three hits in the first four innings. But the flood gates opened in the fifth.
Caitlin Lowe led off the fifth with the third hit of her four-hit night. K’Lee Arredondo then singled to right field, but Nicole Kajitani muffed the ball, and both runners advanced one base.
Kristie Fox was intentionally walked for the second time Wednesday to load the bases.
That brought up Leles, who in the third inning committed what must have felt like the biggest on-field gaffe of her life. Running at first with the bases loaded, Leles collided with second baseman Kenora Posey; a run that otherwise would have counted did not because of runner’s interference.
In the fifth, Leles stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and none out.
“I had it all on my shoulders that it was my fault,” Leles said. “I was in a zone, and she gave me a good pitch to hit.”
Leles roped a single up the middle to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
That brought up Chelsie Mesa, whose Friday night error gave the Volunteers their only run in a 1-0 UA loss.
Mesa tomahawked a pitch over the right field fence to give the Wildcats more breathing room with a 5-0 lead.
“That just tops it all off, for sure,” she said. “It’s a better story to tell my kids — ‘You know, I messed up, but I came back, and I hit a home run.’”
And walked off the field a champion.
