This time, Northwestern threatened against Alicia Hollowell. But for the third time this season and second night in a row, the Wildcats didn’t score a run against the Arizona star.
And so Northwestern’s dreams of a national championship died Tuesday night when Hollowell pitched Arizona to a 5-0 victory for the program’s seventh national championship, all since 1991.
Arizona (54-11), which beat Northwestern 8-0 Monday night, won the best-of-three championship series in two games and Hollowell was named the most outstanding player of the Women’s College World Series at Hall of Fame Stadium.
In Arizona’s six WCWS games, Hollo-well struck out 64, including 13 Tuesday, to set a series record.
Ironically, Northwestern’s nine hits were the most Hollowell (32-5) has allowed all season. However, the Wildcats stranded 10 runners.
“Arizona got the big outs tonight, and it started with Hollowell,” said Northwestern coach Kate Drohan, whose team started the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 overall seed and finished 50-15.
Eileen Canney (26-9) took the loss for NU.
Hollowell and Arizona beat the Wildcats three times this season by a combined score of 21-0. Hollowell finished the WCWS with three straight shutouts and 23 straight innings without allowing a run.
