Editor’s note: This story appears in Sunday’s special section honoring retiring UA softball coach Mike Candrea.
From 1988 until 2021, Mike Candrea scheduled a regular trip to the Women’s College World Series — a rite of late-spring that, more often than not, turned into a celebration of Arizona softball.
Candrea’s teams played so often in Oklahoma City — 24 times — and stayed so long when they did, playing for a national title 13 times and winnning eight of them, that the coach had his favorite restaurants and hotel, his daily routes and superstitions. Over time, he learned plenty about heat, humidity and thunderstorms, too.
Here’s a decade-by-decade look at Arizona’s Women’s College World Series appearances — and Candrea’s trips to a city that he came to know well. (Stories on each of the Wildcats’ eight national championship wins appear from Pages F6-F17).
1980s
1988: In Arizona’s first trip to the Women’s College World Series under Candrea, the Wildcats advance to the semifinals and ties for third place. Arizona is shut out in its final two games, first by the team that would become its biggest rival, UCLA, and then by Fresno State. UCLA goes on to win the championship in the event that was held in Sunnyvale, California.
1989: For the second consecutive year, Arizona finishes in a tie for third place. The Wildcats run into UCLA in the elimination game, and Lisa Longaker pitches a two-hitter to pick up the 3-0 win.
1990s
1990: Arizona falls to Oklahoma State and Fresno State in back-to-back games at the WCWS’ new home in Oklahoma City.
1991: Arizona crushes UCLA all three times they face off in the last three weeks of the season, and then comes through when it counts the most. The Wildcats defeat the Bruins 5-1 in the national championship game, giving the program its first national championship.
UA ace Debby Day is voted the unofficial MVP by the media. She wins four WCWS games, allowing one run on 15 hits over 32 innings.
1992: Jennifer Brewster connects for a home run to give the Bruins a 2-0 victory over Arizona in the final series of the Women’s College World Series. UCLA’s Lisa Fernandez strikes out six, gives up four hits and walks one in the clincher.
1993: The two best pitchers in the country — UA’s Susie Parra (28-3) and UCLA’s Fernandez (33-3) — face each other in the title game, with Arizona winning 1-0 in a softball purist’s delight.
Parra throws 75 pitches in the win, giving up two hits, striking out six and walking two. No Bruin advanced beyond second base.
1994: Arizona dominates from start to finish, thanks to its six All-Americans. Backed by stellar pitching, stout defense and timely hitting, the Wildcats beat Cal State Northridge 4-0 to win their second national championship in a row and third in four years.
1995: Arizona falls to UCLA’s ace Tanya Harding — a ringer — in a 4-2 loss for the title. The Bruins’ Australian ace would then leave school without taking a final exam or completing one credit in her three classes. It takes two years for the NCAA to punish UCLA. The Bruins are forced to forfeit the title but remain in the record books as the winner — with an asterisk.
1996: With three key players redshirting — Leah O’Brien, Leah Braatz and Nancy Evans — Arizona recaptures the title in another Pac-10 showdown. This time, it’s No. 1-seeded Washington that falls to the Wildcats 6-4 in the championship.
1997: The Wildcats rout UCLA 10-2, exacting some revenge on a program that cheated to win two years earlier. Arizona scores a pair of runs in the first inning, and tacks on four runs — two on walks and two more on an error — in the second inning. Four more come in the fifth.
Three Wildcats make the All-Tournament team: O’Brien, Evans and Alison Johnsen.
1998: Evans allows one run in the WCWS finals, but that’s all Fresno State needs to beat the Wildcats 1-0. The Bulldogs become the first non-Pac-10 team since 1987 to win a softball title.
1999: Arizona ends the 1990s with an uncharacteristically short stay at the Women’s World Series. The Wildcats open with a 3-0 win over Cal, but lose the next two to Washington and DePaul and are eliminated.
2000s
2000: Oklahoma eliminates the UA 1-0, then goes on to beat UCLA 3-1 for the Sooners’ first national title. Arizona drops its WCWS opener to Southern Miss, then beats Cal and upsets Washington, setting up a showdown with Oklahoma.
2001: UA beats rival UCLA 1-0 to claim its sixth Women’s College World Series title. Lindsey Collins crushes a solo home run to right-center field in the fourth inning, giving Arizona what it needs to collect another trophy.
On the mound, Jennie Finch is unstoppable. The WCWS Most Outstanding Player picks up her 19th shutout of the season and finishes with a 32-0 record and 0.54 ERA.
2002: Cal upends the Wildcats in the final, 6-0. The game marks the 10th all-Pac-10 final in WCWS history, with Arizona playing in eight of them.
2003: Arizona into runs Cal in the WCWS for the second straight year. And for the second straight year, the Golden Bears end UA’s season. UA bats only .179 in Oklahoma City, going 12 for 67.
2005: Arizona faces two of the greatest softball pitchers of all time — Tennessee’s Monica Abbott and Texas’ Cat Osterman — and is sent packing early. A 1-0, 11-inning loss to the Longhorns ends the Wildcats’ season.
2006: The Wildcats capture their seventh national championship by shutting out Northwestern 13-0 in two games. Arizona ace Alicia Hollowell runs away with Most Outstanding Player award. In six games, Hollowell surrenders only two runs and strikes out 64 batters — a WCWS record.
2007: The Wildcats win five elimination games, including two in the finals against Tennessee, on the way to their eighth Women’s College Wold Series title. UA wins 5-0 win over Tennessee in Game 3 of the best-of-three finals.
Ace Taryne Mowatt is spectacular. In eight games over seven days, Mowatt throws 60 innings (and 1,035 pitches), striking out 76 and earning six wins. Mowatt is named the Most Outstanding Player of the series.
2008: With Candrea away from the Wildcats to lead up the U.S. Olympic team, Arizona loses the first two games of the Series and is eliminated. Arizona finishes 41-19 under acting coach Larry Ray.
2009: Florida beats Arizona 3-0 in the Wildcats’ WCWS opener; Alabama then sends the UA home with a 14-0 blowout.
2010s
2010: Arizona makes it back to the championship series, but falls in two straight games to UCLA. The Bruins top the Wildcats 6-5 in eight innings in. Game 1 of the best-of-three finals, then clinch their 11th title with a 15-9 victory. The Wildcats rally just to make it to the final series: Arizona wins four elimination games in less than 30 hours, topping Washington and Hawaii, and then Tennessee — twice — to take on UCLA.
2019: Arizona makes its 23rd WCWS appearance after a nine-year absence, but loses back-to-back games to UCLA and Alabama. The Wildcats open the series with a 3-1 win over Washington thanks to a two-run homer by Dejah Mulipola.
2020s
2021: Arizona advances to the WCWS as a No. 11 seed, but runs into Alabama ace Montana Fouts in the first game and Florida State slugger Dani Morgan in Game 2 and is eliminated in what would be Candrea’s final games as the Wildcats’ coach.
