Feb. 7, 2004
Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz. - Arizona hit two homers to score five runs in the bottom of the fifth and defeat the UNLV softball team 10-1 in the final round robin game of the Pepsi Arizona Tournament at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday.
The second-ranked Wildcats (4-0) steadily built a 5-0 lead over four innings before exploding in the bottom of the fifth for a mercy-rule win. A pair of leadoff singles set the stage for Jackie Coburn, who delivered the first of the two homers and put Arizona on top 8-1. Just three batters later, Caitlyn Lowe hammered a two-run shot to straight-away center, putting the 'Cats up by nine.
UNLV (2-2) pushed its only run of the game across a half-inning earlier. After a leadoff walk by Joanna Jackson, junior Morgan Bostwick crushed a ball to deep left center. The ball carried no further than the warning track and was hauled in for the first out, but it allowed Jackson to coast into second.
Kacey Ellis pushed Jackson one base further with a line-drive single off the foot of U of A pitcher Wendy Allen, and Becky McDonald finished the job, roping a 1-2 pitch over the centerfielder's head to score the run.
That was all UNLV could muster off of Allen (1-0), who fanned seven in five innings og work. During one stretch, Allen retired 10 straight batters and finished the game allowing just the two hits in the fifth and another single to Amber Campbell.
Rebel starter Jacqueline Kerrigan (2-1) allowed her first earned runs of the tournament after Arizona began the game with a pair of infield singles. The 'Cats used a sac fly and a passed ball to score both runners and take an early 2-0 lead.
Arizona scored another in the third, taking advantage of a leadoff walk, and stretched its lead to 5-0 after Allen drove in two on a single to left.
Kerrigan completed just four innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs while striking out five. McDonald stepped into the circle in relief at the start of the Wildcat fifth, but recorded only one out before Arizona ended the game.
With the win, Arizona retained its perfect record and took the top seed in Sunday's championship game with the victory. Despite an even 2-2 mark with both New Mexico and Cal State Northridge, the Rebels lost a tiebreaker based on run differential and slipped all the way to the No. 4 seed. They will face Cal State Northridge in the tournament's consolation game at 9:00 a.m. PST on Sunday, just before Arizona meets New Mexico in the tourney title game.
