It’s More Than a Game When These Rivals Meet

Mike Candrea recalls that on his first trip to Westwood, back when he was a junior college coach, he soaked up the sunshine, looked over the sprawling UCLA campus, considered the Bruins’ long-standing place at the top of college softball, and wondered, “Why would someone not want to come here?”

Now the coach at Arizona, UCLA’s softball nemesis, part of Candrea’s job each year is making sure he can answer that question if a top recruit asks.

Under Candrea, 46, Arizona has its own impressive set of credentials. The Wildcats have won six NCAA titles in his 17 years as coach, including a 1-0 victory over UCLA in the championship game last season.

Between them, UCLA and Arizona have won 15 national championships since 1978, and don’t be surprised if there is another title added to that at the end of this season.

Top-ranked UCLA (47-6, 15-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference) and No. 2 Arizona (48-7, 15-3) meet at 2 p.m. Friday at UCLA’s Easton Stadium.

A factor in Candrea’s ability to build Arizona into a perennial championship contender has been his ability to recruit and develop players from Southern California.

“It took some time obviously,” he said. “There was a time where if UCLA wanted the kid, they got the kid. We got a few breaks. We got some key kids.”

Recruiting Debbie Day, an All-American pitcher in the early 1990s, out of Burbank marked a big step.

“She was the first dominating pitcher in our program,” Candrea said. “With championship teams, pitching is the backbone. At UCLA, it was Lisa Longaker, Lisa Fernandez, Debbie Doom. Eventually, we got Nancy Evans and then that led to getting Susie Parra and Jenny Dalton.”

This season, Arizona has eight players from Southern California, including senior Jennie Finch, an All-American pitcher and last year’s Honda Award winner as amateur softball’s top player.

Finch, from La Mirada, has a 29-2 record and 15 home runs this season. Last season, she was 32-0 as a pitcher, capping off the season with a three-hit shutout in the championship game.

Although Finch attended UCLA games as a child and dreamed of being the next Lisa Fernandez, she chose to attend Arizona because she liked Tucson’s small, college-town atmosphere.

“If you’re a softball player, the whole city of Tucson knows who you are,” Finch said. “You’re on the cover of the newspaper. It seems so unrealistic at times. I’ll be in a mall and asked for autographs.”

Recruiting works both ways, though. One of UCLA’s top players, first baseman Tairia Mims, is from Tucson and grew up attending Wildcat games. Mims’ mother, Jaqueline, is an Arizona graduate and lifelong fan.

“They still root for Arizona even though I’m here,” Mims said of her family. “[But] for me, the decision was easy. I loved the type of education you can get at UCLA. That’s not to say I didn’t love U of A.”

UCLA and Arizona have split two games this season, both in Tucson. Arizona won the opener, 3-2, on April 6, but UCLA bounced back the following day, winning 6-5 to end the Wildcats’ 70-game home winning streak and Finch’s NCAA-record 60-game unbeaten streak that spanned three years.

UCLA Coach Sue Enquist, who has always focused most on winning over Memorial Day weekend--during the final rounds of the NCAA playoffs--took some satisfaction in that regular-season win.

“It removed the mystery that we were not able to get it done down there,” said Enquist, a former Bruin center fielder who was the first softball player elected to the school’s Hall of Fame. “It was a good win but at the end of the day, it’s still just [one] win.”

Enquist and Candrea credit each other for fostering what Candrea describes as “a classy rivalry.” The relationship between coaches hasn’t grown contentious despite their well-known competitiveness. It has stayed friendly, even when they are recruiting the same players.

“We’re both programs that are very competitive yet we both respect one another,” Candrea said. “I think we’re so similar. Both of us have high expectations every year. I mean, how many programs have finished second at the College World Series and you come back home and people say, ‘What happened?’”

Said Enquist: “I love that our friendship has been unscathed. I’d do anything to beat his club and he would do the same to beat us. But I think we’ve shown that you can have it all and still be a good person.

“When we shake hands at the end of each game, the first thing he says to me is, ‘How’s your mom and dad?’”

The admiration will end when the lineups are announced Friday.

“I would say the hour and 45 minutes that we’re out there, there’s not a lot of good-natured feeling happening,” said Stacey Nuveman, UCLA’s All-American catcher. “We respect each other, you’d be stupid not to. But you definitely want it more than any other game of the regular season.”

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*--* Arizona’s Southland Connection When No. 2 Arizona plays top-ranked UCLA in a Pacific 10 Conference softball showdown at UCLA’s Easton Stadium Friday, it will be a homecoming of sorts for eight Arizona players from Southern California Player Yr Pos High School Crystal Farley Fr OF Lompoc Has made one error in 48 starts Jennie Finch Sr P/1B La Mirada Is 29-2 as a pitcher and has hit 15 homers Meaghan Finnerty Sr OF Moorpark Has 21 at-bats this season Courtney Fossatti Fr P/OF Santa Ana Foothill Playing left field this year while waiting for an opportunity to pitch Carrie Hagen Fr IF Huntington Beach Marina Occasional starter batting .268 Lovieanne Jung Jr SS Fountain Valley Fresno State transfer is team’s sparkplug Mackenzie Vandergeest So C Thousand Oaks La Reina Third on team with 46 runs batted in Allyson Von Lichtenstein Fr OF Redlands East Valley Often serves as pinch-runner

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