Championship Notes

May 26, 2003

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UCLA won its ninth NCAA softball championship and the school's 90th, which is tops among all Division I schools. The UCLA athletics department also won the men's soccer, women's gymnastics and women's water polo NCAA titles during the 2002-03 academic year.

WCWS Most Oustanding Player Keira Goerl threw the 14th shutout in WCWS Championship Game history and the first UCLA no-hitter in the title game. Goerl earned her first complete game no-hitter of the season and the seventh of her career. Goerl shared a no-hitter with Michelle Turner in the Bruins Regional opener against Colgate on May 15.

Goerl registered her fifth complete game in the last three days and sixth of the 2003 WCWS. She started each of UCLA's 10 postseason games this year and went 9-1. Goerl threw a total of 71 innings in 10 postseason games. She struck out 63 batters in the postseason and gave up just four earned runs while improving to 40-7 on the season. Goerl posted a 0.55 ERA in the WCWS.

Cal failed in its bid to become the third school in NCAA softball history to repeat as national champion, a feat that has been accomplished twice by both Arizona and UCLA.

California starting pitcher Kelly Anderson was also impressive in the postseason, giving up just five earned runs in 69 innings of work. Anderson finished the postseason with a record of 7-2, with losses to UCLA and Texas at the WCWS.

UCLA became the second team in WCWS history to win after losing their first game in the tournament. The only other squad to do that was Texas A&M in 1983.

Today was the third WCWS championship game appearance for UCLA's senior class (Toria Auelua, Monique Mejia, Tairia Mims and Natasha Watley). Every four-year player in UCLA softball history has won a national title.

UCLA has won 17 of its last 18 games against California, dating back to the 1998 season. The lone loss was on Thursday night in the WCWS when Cal won 7-3 in extra innings.

Over its last 94 postseason innings (dating back to last year) Cal pitchers have allowed just seven earned runs (nine total runs) while scoring 47 runs during the same span.

Through its nine postseason games entering today, Cal had outscored its opposition 37-8.

Cal fell to 3-5 in extra inning games this season with two of those wins coming in this year's WCWS. UCLA improved to 3-1 in extra inning games.

The national champion Bruins finished the season with a 54-7 record, while the national runner-up Golden Bears ended 2003 with a 49-20 mark.

Cal was shut out for the 10th time this season. Three of those came against UCLA. Today marked the first time this season that Cal was held hitless.

The WCWS championship game had only gone to extra innings four times prior to this season and it happened in the first four title games (1982-85).

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