Northwestern, Arizona advance to championship series

OKLAHOMA CITY – Tammy Williams and Garland Cooper hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning as Northwestern beat top-seeded UCLA 3-1 Sunday, knocking the Bruins out of the Women’s College World Series.

In a best-of-3 championship series beginning today, fourth-seeded Northwestern (50-13) will face second-seeded Arizona, a 6-0 winner over eighth-seeded Tennessee on Sunday night. Arizona (52-11) lost 1-0 to Tennessee earlier Sunday.

Northwestern’s win came after UCLA’s Kristen Dedmon came off the bench to force extra innings with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

Williams and Cooper responded with consecutive home runs off Anjelica Selden (35-7) to put Northwestern in position to play for the NCAA title for the first time in school history.

Eileen Canney (26-7) struck out six in a six-hitter, and Jamie Dotson added a home run off Selden in the second inning for Northwestern, which is playing in its first Women’s College World Series since 1986.

Arizona, which has won seven national titles, will be making its 11th championship-round appearance in 18 trips to the World Series, but its first since 2002.

In the second Arizona-Tennessee game, Arizona’s Alicia Hollowell (30-5) limited the Volunteers to a pair of singles while striking out 14 batters.