Editor’s note: For more than three decades, the UA has been one of college softball’s best teams, making 23 Women’s College World Series appearances and winning eight national championships. The Star is re-living each of the WCWS trips.
1996: Big hits propel Arizona to fourth National title
What went down: With three key players redshirting — Leah O’Brien, Leah Braatz and Nancy Evans — No. 2-seeded Arizona (58-9) still recaptured the title — its fourth — in another Pac-10 showdown in the finals.
This time it was No. 1-seeded Washington which fell to the Wildcats 6-4 in the championship.
These two teams faced each other six times during the season, with each side winning three games.
UA won three WCWS games to end up in the championship game, beating Iowa 5-2, UCLA 4-0 and Iowa 10-2 in six innings. The Wildcats finished the season on a 17-game winning streak.
UA ace Carrie Dolan picked up her school-record 35th win of the season by pitching a complete game, striking out four and walking none.
Arizona, which averaged seven runs a game during the season, scored 25 total runs in the four WCWS games. Alison Johnsen chipped in during the championship game going 4 for 4 with a two-run double in the second inning. She was 8 for 15 over the four-game series.
But the story of the game, the tournament and the season was senior second baseman Jenny Dalton. How unstoppable was she?
In the final, she hit a three-run homer in the first inning. In the four games of the series she went 4 for 6, slugging two homers and driving in five runs. She only made two outs in 14 trips to the plate. She managed to do all of this with opponents pitching around her, as she walked eight times during the WCWS and 64 times overall during the season.
Five Wildcats made the All-Tournament team: Dolan, Johnsen, Dalton, Michelle Churnock and Krista Gomez.
From the archives: The Star’s Anthony Gimino compared Dalton to a few of the greats in baseball: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron, writing that she was “unequaled in her sport.” He added:
After the game, as the public address announcer prepared to reveal the name of the Most Valuable Player, the Arizona players turned and pointed to their teammate.
Was there any doubt? It was Dalton.
“Jenny Dalton is a hitter you don’t want to mess with,” said Washington coach Teresa Wilson.
“There are a lot of home run hitters out there, but there are a lot who swing for the fences wildly, and if you pitch them right, you can get outs.
“But Jenny Dalton is a better hitter than that.
Arizona won its fourth national title in six years with the victory over Washington in the WCWS title game in Oklahoma City.
“She’s perfectly happy with a walk. I’ve seen her bunt for a base hit. She’s happy with a single. If you throw a pitch that is anywhere close, she’ll hit it in the gap for a double. If you slip, she could take you deep.”
Dalton completed her Arizona eligibility as the NCAA career leader in RBIs (328), runs (294) and walks (178). She also set a season mark for walks this year with 64.
She said it: The Wildcats spent the two weeks of the postseason on the road and in the heat. This may have given them the edge to win it all.
“A lot of things that were coming our way, we were taking for granted. And, a lot of our victories in (the Florida State regional in Tallahassee) weren’t easy. Those were the character builders that took us all the way to No. 1.” — Dalton
After OKC: Dalton finished her career as a Wildcat with many honors including Pac-10 Player of the Year, National Player of the Year, and College World Series MVP. She was the first Triple Crown winner in Pac-10 history, leading the league in average (.469), home runs (25) and RBIs (109).
She still holds the NCAA mark for career RBIs with 328. She was the first and now one of only nine players to hit .400 with 200 RBIs and 50 home runs along with an .800 slugging percentage.
Dalton holds many Wildcats records — RBIs, walks, runs and slugging percentage — and is in the top 10 for others. She played in four consecutive WCWS and won three titles. She is a member of the UA’s Hall of Fame.
She went on to play for the United States women’s national baseball team and in the 2010 Women’s Baseball World Cup, earning a bronze medal. She played baseball for the Colorado Silver Bullets.
Dalton coached softball as an assistant coach for Kentucky for a few seasons and at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kentucky.
Now she focuses on providing softball analysis for SEC games on ESPN.
The big number: 6. The Wildcats played for the championship for the sixth straight year in 1996.
