The immediate reaction of acting UA softball coach Larry Ray was to blame himself for the Wildcats' first failure in 17 years to reach the Women's College World Series. It was an opinion shared by many UA fans, who voiced their frustrations at Ray as they exited Hillenbrand Stadium moments after the Wildcats were eliminated by Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday evening. Outgoing senior Mackenzie Vandergeest scoffs at the notion that the absence of Mike Candrea, gone this year while coaching the U.S. Olympic team, was a factor in this season's ending. "This has nothing to do with Coach Candrea," Vandergeest said Saturday night while wiping back tears. "Coach Ray came out and did a great job with us. It's the players that score runs. It's the players that play defense. It's not the coaches." Not having Candrea on hand this year was just one of many things that made the 2004 Wildcats stand out from previous teams that, from 1988 to 2003, always saw their year end at the WCWS. There was less of a reliance on power than in years past, with more of an emphasis on speed and the short game. And for the second straight season, the Wildcats had to ride the arm of just one pitcher rather than divide mound time between two or more. No differences seemed to matter as the team raced out to a school-record 34-0 start, and later a 9-0 beginning to the Pac-10 season. The Wildcats were 45-1 a little more than a month ago before ending with five losses in their final 15 games. "It just seemed like the offense completely shut down" the last few weeks, Ray said. "The same thing happened to us last year. We played good all year long and cashed in on the majority of opportunities, but (on the last day) we didn't." Last year's season ended with back-to-back losses to California at the WCWS, with the Wildcats scoring two runs over 19 innings in those games. Ray said freshman leadoff hitter Caitlin Lowe had been pressing at the plate the last few weeks of the regular season. Lowe was 2 for 13 in the UA's four regional games. The loss of sophomore Autumn Champion to a knee injury after the regional opener against Centenary also did a lot to damage the Wildcats' offensive though Vandergeest said the loss of Champion is not an excuse. "She's one player. This is a whole team. This is all 19" players, Vandergeest said. "Even if she's not playing, even if (injured redshirt) Courtney Fossatti is not playing, we've got plenty of athletes that should have been able to fill in and produce. I'm very proud of everybody. It's just too bad it came out like this." What few holes the Wildcats have to fill for next season are big ones. The losses of Vandergeest and senior first baseman Wendy Allen, the NCAA RBI leader with 73, leave a need of someone to step into the third and fourth spots in the batting order. Ray said incoming freshman Callista Balko, from Canyon del Oro High School, could be a choice in the middle of the order. "Callista Balko swings an excellent bat, but whether she'll be able to step in as a freshman, who knows," Ray said. The UA could also put Fossatti, a second-team All-American as a sophomore who sat out 2004 after having ankle surgery, in the No. 3 spot. She is another left-handed slapper, like Lowe and Champion, making next year's team potentially faster than the 2003 version that stole 125 bases. Balko could play either catcher or second base for departing senior Samantha Quintero, though incoming freshman Adrienne Acton of Marana could battle for second or a spot in the outfield. The UA is also looking to add a transfer, possibly a catcher. The biggest change next season, though, looks to be in the circle, where Alicia Hollowell has rewritten the school's pitching records the past two years. Taryne Mowatt, a right-hander from Corona, Calif., who has an 86-16 record with an 0.32 ERA and 65 shutouts in her career, is expected to ease Hollowell's burden. "We fully expect Taryne Mowatt to take a big, big load off Alicia," Ray said. "That will hopefully be able to make Alicia, especially in the postseason, be a little fresher." Ray was not part of the scant 173 in attendance for Sunday's regional final at Hillenbrand, won by Oklahoma. As for the this weekend's WCWS: "It's such a shame, for in my mind, the very best team isn't going to be in Oklahoma City this year," Ray said.