College Softball World Series : UCLA Beats Fullerton, Faces Texas A&M; for the Title

They came at this game from different directions, UCLA and Cal State Fullerton.

UCLA, which has won three of the only five NCAA softball championships that have been held, was back in the College World Series after not even making the regionals last year. Fullerton, which has played in four of the five series, was here as defending champion for the first time.

The fourth-ranked Bruins had won each of their three series games this week by a shutout, and had guaranteed themselves a spot in the national final by beating second-ranked Texas A&M;, 1-0, earlier Saturday to remain the only unbeaten team in the double-elimination tournament.

Top-ranked Fullerton had done no such thing. After losing to Fresno State in 13 innings Friday and barely avoiding elimination earlier Saturday by coming back against Fresno State in the bottom of the seventh to win, 2-1, the Titans needed to win again to stay alive in the tournament.

They failed, and UCLA, the team with nothing to lose, came a little bit closer to winning it all. The Bruins beat the Titans, 1-0, in front of 1,800 at Seymour Smith Field, on the outskirts of a city where softball is taken so seriously that the rainout status of recreation-league games makes the local radio news.

UCLA (50-8), which won the NCAA championship in 1982, 1984 and 1985, plays Texas A&M; (54-8) for the title at 11:30 a.m. PDT today. Should Texas A&M; win that game, the teams will play again at 1:30 to decide the championship.

Texas A&M; defeated local favorite Nebraska, 4-0, Saturday after losing to UCLA to earn the rematch.

“Fullerton has been our nemesis,” said UCLA Coach Sharron Backus. “But when you have your archrival, it makes that type of victory that much sweeter. . . . I think our kids were relaxed. A lot of it had to do with (not needing the victory), but as short as this series is, you can’t afford to let anybody come off the carpet or it will come back and haunt you.”

UCLA, which won its 12th straight game, scored the game’s lone run in the fourth inning when Karen Walker’s pop fly dropped in for a hit just behind backpedaling Fullerton shortstop Charis Monroe. Left fielder Chenita Rogers’ throw to the plate was not in time to get Janice Parks, who had singled and gone to second on a sacrifice bunt.

Rogers twice got leadoff hits for Fullerton (59-10), advancing to second and third, but the Titans could never bring her in.

“To win, you’ve got to be good and you’ve got to have a little luck,” Fullerton Coach Judi Garman said. “We played good, but we didn’t have any luck. I feel like we played well, but we didn’t get a break in the whole tournament.”

Fullerton lost to Texas A&M;, 2-1, in Friday night’s 13-inning marathon that was not settled until after four innings of international tiebreaker play, in which the inning begins with a runner on second. Saturday, it took seventh-inning heroics--a run-scoring double by pinch-hitter Cathi Hall and a sacrifice fly by Rogers--for the Titans to survive against Fresno State.

Connie Clark (33-5), who pitched all 34 innings over three days for the Titans, allowed no more than the four hits she gave up against UCLA.

Samantha Ford and Lisa Longaker, a freshman first-team All-American, combined on a four-hitter against Fullerton, with Ford (16-3), the starter, earning the victory.