Monday, June 4, 2007

Tennessee vs. Arizona

Awesome Arizona. Marvelous Mowatt.
Arizona had a long hill to climb but they charged to the top of it like champs. Scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth in game one against Washington set the tone for the day. Sam Banister doubled in two runs with two outs. The day had Wildcat written all over it. Winning the first game 2-0, Arizona never looked back. Riding on Taryne Mowatt's excellent pitching, one earned run in five games, Arizona found their bats in game two and put 8 runs on the Huskies. Jenae Leles got Arizona rolling in game two with a two rbi double in the first inning.

Tennessee's Monica Abbott had 17 K's while dismissing a tough Northwestern team.

It's only four hours until the Volunteers and Wildcats face off for what should be a fierce series. I believe that the series will go all three games. Tennessee is on top of their game now, but there is no quit in Arizona.

Sunday, June 3, 2007

WCWS

Washington and Tennessee are definitely in the driver's seat today in the elimination round of the WCWS. Washington will meet PAC-10 companion, Arizona at 1:00 pm est. Washington has an All-America sophomore, Danielle Lawrie, from Canada who threw a no-hitter on the opening day of the Series against Depaul. After beating Depaul 3-1, who scored on a walk and throwing error, Washington then trounced Northwestern 9-0. Arizona has to win consecutive games to advance to the championship game. Arizona is the defending National Champ and comes from a conference that sent every team to the Series Tournament. Arizona beat Baylor in nine innings on day one then lost to Tennessee on day two. Yesterday, in a must win game, Arizona downed Depaul 3-0. Taryne Mowatt pitched a great game against Depaul, giving up only two hits.
Can junior Mowatt, 800 K's, out-duel the sensational sophomore, Lawrie? Can Arizona's All-America, Caitlin Lowe solve Washington's pitching dominance?
Tennessee senior pitcher Monica Abbott is on fire. 16 K's against Texas A&M on day one put her at 665 on the year. That's the NCAA single season record. A&M went hitless against Abbott, giving her 23 career no-hitters. She holds three other NCAA records: 187 wins, 2397 strikeouts, 110 shut-outs. She's 6-3 and seems unhittable. She threw 16 more strikeouts against Arizona on day two. This is what Northwestern is up against. Northwestern features two powerful hitters with Tammy Williams at shortshop and Garland Cooper on first. Northwestern came back from a 9-0 drumming by Washington to crush Baylor 7-0. Northwestern has strong coaching. Head coach Kate Drohan is assisted by her twin Caryln. Piching for Northwestern is senior, Eileen Cannay. She's experienced and savvy.
Can Williams and Cooper get to the dominating Abbott early? Can Northwestern win two?