Forgive a trip down memory lane, but coming off a week in which 32 college teams played more than 80 games in this year's Mary Nutter Classic, there still hasn't been a better game played in softball's most delightfully gluttonous smorgasbord than when Washington and Florida played in 2009.
Rather than make matters complicated that day, Washington coach Heather Tarr and Florida coach Tim Walton handed the ball to their respective aces and essentially told them to lock up and turn off the lights when done. So for nine innings, Washington's Danielle Lawrie and Florida's Stacey Nelson dueled until finally the Huskies scraped together a run and a 1-0 win.
Florida and Washington were ranked second and third, respectively, at the time, so it wasn't exactly an upset. But Lawrie had missed the previous season to compete for Canada at the Olympics in 2008, and the duel made clear the Huskies could outlast anyone as long as their ace was in the circle. And wouldn't you know it, when the teams met again in the championship round of the Women's College World Series, Washington played like a team without an ounce of fear en route to the title.
The point of the digression, other than the never-ending fun of reveling in how ruthless of a competitor Lawrie was in the college game, is that there are a lot of ways to make a statement. And the same coach and program made a big one in a very different way this past weekend.
Washington's marquee game at the Mary Nutter Classic was a Saturday morning encounter against No. 6 Texas A&M, which had beaten No. 5 Oregon's pitching depth the previous afternoon. But Tarr didn't follow the 2009 model. She didn't hand the ball to Taran Alvelo, who threw a two-hit shutout against Notre Dame Friday and has been almost perfect this season. Washington started Australian freshman Gabbie Plain. And after she expended a lot of effort in throwing 100 pitches in four innings, stymied by walks, Washington still kept Alvelo in reserve and went to Samantha Manti.
Like the game nine years ago, Saturday stretched beyond seven innings. But Manti kept the Aggies off the scoreboard until after Washington scored twice in the top of the ninth en route to a 4-3 win to remain unbeaten this season, now 18-0.
Plain and Manti also teamed up to beat Wisconsin on Sunday, part of Washington's 6-0 week. For the season those two are 9-0 with 68 strikeouts and a 0.92 ERA in 53 1/3 innings.
It's good to have an ace. Arizona looks like it has one after Taylor McQuillin shut out Oklahoma, one of five Arizona wins in Palm Springs. UCLA's Rachel Garcia was strong as the Bruins went 5-0 last week. On the other side of the country, Alabama's Alexis Osorio stifled Florida State (the ACC team got some satisfaction by beating the Crimson Tide, but not Osorio, the next day). And Florida's Kelly Barnhill beat Georgia Southern with her first college perfect game.
To that end, Washington is a title contender in large part because of Alvelo, who closed the weekend with a one-hit shutout against Long Beach State. But Saturday's assignment sent the message that the Huskies have more depth than in recent seasons and they aren't afraid to use it. Could it have cost them their undefeated season? Sure. And it might still, young pitchers being young pitchers, but it's the way the game is played now at a championship level.
In its own way, No. 11 Tennessee sent much the same message when it put the exclamation point on a big weekend with a 1-0 win over Oregon. The Lady Vols may not have an Alvelo, Osorio or Barnhill. Granted, they will argue they have two of them, but no matter how highly you rank them individually, the duo of Matty Moss and Caylan Arnold is better than the sum of its parts right now. Those two split innings in all but two of Tennessee's six wins in Palm Springs, including Arnold's save after Moss threw six shutout innings in the win against the Ducks.
Whatever the math, Tennessee has seven good innings to give almost anyone at the moment.
The message out of Mary Nutter? An ace can still make a statement, but so can showing off what else is at your disposal.