Arizona is last hurdle before regionals
The No. 2 Bruins travel to the desert to play No. 1 Arizona on
Saturday. They continue with a doubleheader on Sunday against No.
11 Arizona State. The Wildcats (54-4, 16-2 Pac-10) are on a roll
with a 16-game winning streak and have a 44-game winning streak at
home dating back to last season.
They are led by their trio of starting pitchers Jennie Finch
(23-0, 0.24 ERA), Jenny Gladding (12-2, 0.89 ERA), and Becky Lemke
(16-2, 0.91 ERA).
Lauren Bauer’s .447 average sparks the offense, but
Arizona is balanced with eight players with .300-plus averages.
Power is also not a concern, as six players have double-digit home
runs.
The Sun Devils (34-17, 9-9) come to these games with a
three-game winning streak after sweeping the Bay Area schools last
weekend, including a 4-3 win in eight innings against Stanford.
Erica Beach (16-8, 1.31 ERA) and Kirsten Voak (14-7, 1.50 ERA)
are the two pitching aces, while the balanced offense has seven
players batting over .300.
The Bruins have a tough weekend ahead, but after sweeping the
Oregon schools at home the past weekend, they have some momentum
that should carry them through the desert heat.
Nuveman and Mims lead team
The home run race among Bruins this season has switched back and
forth between junior catcher Stacey Nuveman and sophomore third
baseman Tairia Mims.
Nuveman brought experience from being part of the gold-medal
winning 2000 U.S. Olympic team. She had a career batting average of
.451 coming into the season and continued to excel, leading the
team in hitting with a .444 average.
She also leads the team with 66 RBIs, 62 walks, and regained the
team lead with her 16th home run on Sunday against Oregon State for
a career total of 66.
Mims continues to let Nuveman lead, and has performed splendidly
in the shadows. She is second on the team with 15 home runs, 64
RBIs, 14 doubles, 48 runs, and is fourth on the team with a .379
average. She also played solid defense with only four errors at the
hot corner.
Mims has also emerged as a team leader after a solid freshman
year in which she had a .300 average and nine home runs while
starting all 59 games.
Compiled by Michael Sneag, Daily Bruin Contributor.