[COLLEGE SOFTBALL]
UCLA players hoisted the NCAA Championship trophy after defeating California yesterday for the title.
UCLA claims
NCAA titleBaldwin alumna Kaleo Eldredge
goes 0-for-4 for California as the Bruins
win 3-1 to repeat as softball champions
Kristen Dedmon didn't know exactly what she was getting into before delivering the biggest hit of UCLA's season.
Dedmon, a freshman who hadn't batted in two weeks, drove in the go-ahead runs with a pinch-hit, two-run single with two outs in the fifth inning in Oklahoma City yesterday and the Bruins went on to beat California 3-1 for their second straight NCAA softball championship.
The Bruins (47-9) won their 10th NCAA championship and became the first team to win back-to-back championships since Arizona in 1996-97.
Dedmon said she had been swinging her bat near the outfield to get ready in case coach Sue Enquist called on her in the fifth. When it came time, she threw off her visor, put on a helmet and stepped to the plate, not entirely aware of the pressure.
"I didn't know there were two outs," Dedmon said.
Claire Sua, who hit a towering homer to tie the game earlier in the inning, said Dedmon's lack of awareness was for the best.
"She honestly didn't have time to think, 'Oh, no, this is pressure; oh, no this is a close game,"' Sua said. "She didn't really have time to doubt. As a hitter, you want to have a clear head. You don't want to think about anything.
"I'm actually happy she didn't. If she had, it might not have turned out the way that it did. It kind of worked in her favor."
Cal center fielder Kaleo Eldredge, a Baldwin High School graduate from Kahului, went 0-for-4 in the championship game and left five runners on base.
Eldredge struck out, popped out, forced a runner and grounded to second for the final out of the game. She went 4-for-17 in the College World Series, including 3-for-3 in Sunday's first semifinal game.
It was the second year in a row that Cal lost the championship game to UCLA. Cal won the title in 2001 with Eldredge starting as a freshman and scoring the winning run in the championship game.
Keira Goerl (31-7), who pitched a nine-inning no-hitter as UCLA beat Cal 1-0 in last year's title game, wasn't nearly as dominant this year. She allowed seven hits in becoming only the third pitcher to win back-to-back championship games. Arizona's Susie Parra in 1993-1994 and UCLA's Debbie Doom in 1984-85 also accomplished the feat.
"To go out like this is awesome," said Goerl, who was fighting off tears. "I can't believe this is the last day that I'll put on this uniform."
Cal (53-13) was up 1-0 and pitcher Kelly Anderson (25-9) was perfect through four innings.
Leading off the fifth, Sua hit Anderson's first pitch over the left-center field wall to tie the game 1-1.
"At that moment, I really thought that we needed to get something going whether it was that or a base hit or a bobble -- anything to get our team up and our offense going," Sua said. "I just went up there and said, 'What do I have to lose up here?' It's my last game and I'm going to go for it.
"If I take a big whiff, oh well."
Anderson hit the next batter, Stephanie Ramos, in the back and walked Jodie Legaspi on six pitches before being replaced by Kristina Thorson. Amanda Simpson pinch-ran for Ramos, Tara Henry pinch-ran for Legaspi and Emily Zaplatosch bunted them both up a base.
After Michelle Turner struck out looking, UCLA's No. 9 hitter, Julie Hoshizaki, was due up. Enquist turned to Dedmon, who hadn't played since May 15 and hadn't driven in a run since April 18.
Dedmon showed her potential on opening day, when she hit a 300-foot home run -- her only homer of the year. But she hit .191 and had only 13 hits during the entire regular season and was relegated to the bench. She hadn't played in the postseason and was itching for a chance to get in the game.
"I'd been waiting for it the whole weekend," Dedmon said. "I just knew if I went up there and swung the bat like I knew how, if I put the ball in play, the worst thing was they could get me out, but good things could happen."
Dennis Anderson contributed to this report.
