Editorโs note: For more than three decades, the UA has been one of college softballโs best teams, making 23 Womenโs College World Series appearances and winning eight national championships. The Star is reliving each of the WCWS trips.
2008: Wildcats shut down, sent home after two quick losses
What went down: With UA coach Mike Candrea away from the team to lead up the U.S. Olympic team, the Wildcats lost the first two games of the Womenโs College World Series and were eliminated.
The 2008 season, Arizonaโs worst performance in the WCWS, marked the first time that the UA, as the defending champion, didnโt reach the finals to defend the title.
Arizona finished 41-19 under acting coach Larry Ray, its fewest wins since 1986.
The team was also hampered by the departure of pitching coach and UA legend Nancy Evans in December. Gale Bundrick stepped in as a volunteer coach with Evans out.
Arizonaโs series started with a 1-0 loss to UCLA.
The Bruinsโ lone run came following an errant throw to first by ace Taryne Mowatt, who would say later that she rushed the throw. After giving up a run-scoring single a few batters later, Mowatt surrendered one hit the rest of the way. She struck out five and walked two.
The sloppiness carried over in a 5-1 loss to Alabama. Arizona made three errors โ not including two mental errors. Janae Leles misread a sign and bunted instead of swinging away. And on a separate play, Jill Malina, running from third base, was tagged out in a rundown.
Arizona State would go on to win its first national championship, beating Texas A&M in the final series.
From the archives: The Starโs Patrick Finley wrote that errors on the base path and at the plate ended Arizonaโs run early. He wrote:
โEvery year you wonder if you are capable of doing it,โ Ray said. โThe last couple of years itโs been a minor miracle, so to speak. Because I thought this was a better team than last year.โ
Ray called the season a โminor successโ but said he knows some Tucsonans will call it โa failure.โ
The Wildcats missed a weekโs worth of opportunities Saturday. They stranded a runner in scoring position in four of the first five innings against the Crimson Tide (57-7).
In the first, the UA had runners on first and second with none out but did not score. In the second, runners reached first and second with two outs but were stranded.
UA pitcher Taryne Mowatt, who struggled most of the day with her command, allowed a monster homer with two outs in the third. Charlotte Morgan, who leads the NCAA with 79 RBIs, launched a pitch over the left field fence โ and over a VIP tent 30 feet beyond.
He said it: โSometimes thatโs the byproduct of winning all the time. Itโs sort of like the โRockyโ movies โ after heโs won the championship a few times. Sometimes maybe you take that for granted.โ โ Ray
After OKC: The Wildcats lost four seniors, including Mowatt. The All-American and All-Pac-10 player won back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. She pitched three no-hitters as a junior, setting Pac-10 records for wins (42) and strikeouts (522). Mowatt was named Most Outstanding Player in 2007 and won two ESPY awards โ Best Female Athlete and Best Female College Athlete.
Mowatt still shined as a senior, winning nine consecutive games while giving up just two earned runs and 22 hits. During that stretch, she struck out 91 batters and walked just 10.
Mowatt played professionally in the National Pro Fastpitch league before becoming a college pitching coach for California Baptist and Ole Miss. She joined Candreaโs UA staff as pitching coach in 2018.
The big number: 1,267. Mowattโs 1,267 career strikeouts still rank second in UA history, behind Alicia Hollowellโs 1,768.
