Arizona Wildcats softball team advances to NCAA super regionals at LSU

FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!

[rps-paypal]

Arizona’s softball team celebrates around Kellie Fox, whose RBI single in the bottom of the 8th gave the Wildcats a 7-6 win over Minnesota (Pac-12 Networks video screen shot)

[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]

Kellie Fox hit the walk-off game winner for Arizona against Minnesota tonight

The Arizona Wildcats softball team advanced to the NCAA Super Regional in LSU by defeating a gritty Minnesota team 7-6 in eight innings at Hillenbrand Stadium on Sunday night.

Kellie Fox lined a one-out single to left field, scoring Chelsea Suitos for the walk-off winning run in a game that was full of seesaw drama.

Arizona (41-18) led 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh before Minnesota rallied for four runs. It appeared to be a replay of what happened earlier in the day when the Golden Gophers staved off elimination with a 5-2 win on a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh by Paige Palkovich.

The Wildcats responded in the bottom of the seventh in the second game with Chelsea Goodacre’s two-run home run.

[/ezcol_1half]

[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]

Site founder and award-winning sports journalist Javier Morales has published his first e-book, “The Highest Form of Living”, a fiction piece about a young man who overcomes a troubled upbringing without his lost father and wayward mother through basketball and hope. His hope is realized through the sport he loves. Basketball enables him to get past his fears. His experience on the court indirectly brings him closer to his parents in a unique, heartfelt way. Please order it at Amazon (for only $4.99) by clicking on the photo:

YES! Geaux Cats! So pumped to be having y'all come to Louisiana! Louisiana IS Wildcat Country! https://t.co/eyxrQztyfX

— Jennie Finch (@JennieFinch) May 18, 2015

Great win for U of A Softball ! Much respect for Coach Candrea , he is a true Wildcat , 30yrs on the job! Wow

— K-ROC (@krocdesertstorm) May 18, 2015

[/ezcol_1half_end]

[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]

In the bottom of the eighth, Hallie Wilson, who earlier hit a home run for Arizona, grounded out to start the inning. Suitos followed with what appeared to be a double, but instead of stopping at second (disregarding coach Mike Candrea’s signal at the coach’s box), she extended the hit to her first career triple.

Fox followed with her single to left field. Suitos easily beat the throw to home for the winning score. The Wildcats ran out of the dugout, mugging Fox in celebration by first base.

“We showed a lot of heart today,” Fox told The Arizona Daily Star’s Zack Rosenblatt. “We were gonna battle to the very end and leave our hearts on the field to the very end and that’s exactly what we did.

“We’ve never made it to the World Series. And that’s our goal. We’re so close.”

Arizona now travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU next weekend in the Super Regionals. Arizona and LSU met in last year’s Tucson Regional, where the Wildcats beat LSU in two of three games. The Wildcats need two wins to advance to their first Women’s College World Series since 2010.

The Wildcats lost to LSU 4-3 in the Mary Nutter Classic on Feb. 20 in Palm Springs, Calif. The Wildcats’ comeback came up short as the Wildcats’ three-run sixth inning was not enough. Arizona outhit LSU 9-7, including a three-hit game from Eva Watson. The Wildcats stranded nine runners.

The box score from tonight’s thrilling win over Minnesota is available at this link.

[/ezcol_1half]

[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]

College softball very underrated to watch. Congrats @UA_Softball and @CoachCandreaUA!

— matt muehlebach (@mattmuehlebach) May 18, 2015

The new Arizona Softball, where your heart gets jumped on and then you skydive with a stick of TNT, is not like the old days.

— Tom Duddleston (@TomDudd) May 18, 2015

[/ezcol_1half_end]

The Hillenbrand Stadium crowd was on its feet through most of the thrilling game (Pac-12 Networks screen shot)

ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He has also written articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.