While major league baseball pitching staffs seem obsessed with keeping track of how many pitches are thrown, University of Arizona ace Taryne Mowatt threw over 1,000 pitches during the Women's College World Series and hurled 60 innings, setting a new tournament mark. Along the way, she led the Wildcats to their second straight national softball title, beating Tennessee, 5-0, last night.
Sure, I understand that the mechanics of softball pitching are enormously different than baseball, but Mowatt (right) showed a tremendous amount of sheer guts, especially Tuesday night when the Wildcats were on the brink of elimination. The Lady Vols had won the first of the best-of-three series and, in Game 2, were just one base hit from taking the title with a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth with the score, 0-0. But Mowatt coolly worked out of that tight spot, just as she had escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam earlier in the game. Arizona went on to win, 1-0, in the 10th to tie the series.
On the other side, the Lady Vols' Monica Abbott deserves just as much credit for 43 scoreless innings during the World Series. She won 50 games during the season.
Photo credit: Glenn Koenig/LA Times