By tying their most crucial regular-season game in the sixth and winning it 3-1 with a walk-off home run in the seventh, the Arizona Wildcats made Saturday's Senior Day perfect.
Then it got better.
During postgame Senior Day festivities, UA coach Mike Candrea told outfielder Nicole Bryan to wait in front of home plate for a second longer.
Her boyfriend of five years, Derric Cullinane, dropped down on his right knee and, shaking, asked the Mountain View High School graduate to marry him.
She said yes.
"He means everything," Bryan said.
Cullinane, who met the UA outfielder at Mountain View and works in an Woodward, Okla., oil field, had been planning the proposal for years.
He asked Bryan's father for permission and Candrea if he could use the field.
"She's my world," Cullinane said.
Today, the No. 16 Wildcats (35-17, 12-12) begin working on getting Bryan another ring.
The team awaits its NCAA tournament seed tonight at 7 on ESPNU.
By defeating the No. 24 Beavers (34-21, 9-14), the Wildcats improved their odds of hosting the tournament's regional round next week.
In theory, the top 16 teams are allowed to host the first round, with the best eight squads staying at home for the super-regional round one week later.
The Wildcats' RPI score, used to help seed the tournament, was 10 before the week's games began.
"I did not want to have to sit around and see what the committee was going to do, losing a series at this time of the year," Candrea said. Saturday "was a huge day for us - because I really think it's going to help us hopefully stay here for the regional."
Brigette Del Ponte, whose two-run homer won the game, said the Wildcats will "for sure be able to host," but history says otherwise.
The NCAA committee has sent a top-10 UA team on the road for the first round twice in the past four years. And the UA had gone a month without winning a conference series before Saturday.
"If we can host, I'm praying that that's what we get," senior Lini Koria said. "Ending on a weekend like that is going to get us on a roll.
"We're starting to get that feeling."
The Wildcats won with flair.
Trailing 1-0 in the sixth behind an eventual five-hit, nine-strikeout complete game by pitcher Shelby Babcock, senior Jessica Spigner ripped a solo home run to tie the game.
Spigner, who has struggled with the timing of her swing throughout conference play, hadn't left the yard since March 24.
"My soul needed that," the Tennessee transfer said.
Candrea said Spigner had gotten "to the point where she was pressing so bad and trying so hard that she got blind."
In the seventh, Karissa Buchanan, another senior, singled with one out to cap her first 4-for-4 day.
She had all but three of the team's hits in a game Hallie Wilson missed after running into the fence Friday night.
"I can't ask for a better day," said Buchanan, who stole two bases. "It was awesome."
That brought up Del Ponte, who tagged Marina Demore's inside pitch over the wall to end the game.
"(The seniors) left with a good feeling," Del Ponte said. "And a good win."
On a great day.
"To choose to ask your bride-to-be at home plate," Candrea said, "it doesn't get any better than that."
Candrea couldn't remember seeing a UA player proposed marriage on the field, in front of her teammates.
Bryan said it was the perfect location.
"It's extremely meaningful," she said. "We've spent so much time here that it's such a big part of me. So it's nice that it happened here.
"It's going to be very special for the rest of my life."
Résume
Here's a look at how the Arizona Wildcats stack up entering Selection Sunday.
• Record: 35-17, 12-12 Pac-12
• Splits: 21-5 home, 4-8 away, 10-4 neutral site
• Rank: No. 16 in ESPN.com/USA Softball College Top 25; No. 17 in USA Today/NFCA Div. I Top 25 as of May 8
• Vs. USA Today/NFCA Div. I Top 25 teams: 7-12
• Conference rank: Tied for fourth
• RPI rank: 10, as of May 7
• Pros for hosting: The Wildcats were one of two teams in the country to win at No. 1 Cal. The UA missed chances to improve its RPI by having games against then-No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 15 Baylor (three times) and No. 24 DePaul rained out. Hillenbrand Stadium is one of the national leaders in attendance.
• Cons: In conference play, the UA failed to win a series against any team that finished above it in the standings. The Wildcats have won only 12 of their last 20 and five of 10. To host regionals at No. 2 Arizona State and at the UA, the NCAA would have to import six teams from across the country, some via airplane.
Today
• What: NCAA tournament selection show
• When: 7 p.m.
• TV: ESPNU
Road trip?
Since winning back-to-back Women's College World Series titles in 2006 and 2007, here's where the Arizona Wildcats have been seeded in the NCAA tournament:
Year Record Seed Regional site Super regional
2011 40-16 No. 8 Tucson Tucson
2010 43-11 No. 10 Tucson Tucson*
2009 41-14 No. 9 Louisville, Ky. Stanford, Calif.
2008 36-16 No. 7 Hempstead, N.Y. Tucson
* The Cats were slated to play in Austin, Texas, for the super regional, but the Longhorns were upset in the regional.
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