MAY 2 2003

 

COMMITMENTS

Allie Kauffman, C/OF, Absolute Blast WA, signed Central Washington Univ

Christine “Beanie” Wagner, C, Fairfax VA Firebirds, signed Univ of Wisconsin-Madison

 

COLLEGE SCORES

 

Big 12 Tournament

Texas Tech 5, Kansas 1 (Thursday)

Baylor 3, Iowa State 0 (Thursday)

Texas 7, Texas Tech 1 (Thursday)

Oklahoma State 8, Baylor 0 (Thursday)

 

Oklahoma 4, Texas A&M 0 (9)

Texas A&M 2, Texas Tech 0

Nebraska 5, Missouri 0

Texas 1, Oklahoma 0

Baylor 5, Missouri 0

Oklahoma State 1, Nebraska 0 (9)

 

Top 25 Teams

UCLA 4, Oregon 3

Arizona State 1, Stanford 0

 

Other College Teams

Villanova 7-6; Notre Dame 3-0 (split)

Hawaii def Louisiana Tech 6-3, 8-3 (Melissa Coogan wins both games)

UC Davis def San Francisco State 1-0, 9-2

South Dakota 2, Northern Colorado 1

Siena def Niagara 6-0, 7-2

New Mexico def UNLV 3-2, 1-0

San Diego State 2-1; Colorado State 1-0 (split) ( San Diego wins Mountain West crown)

Yale def Brown 8-6, 4-2

Fordham def St Bonaventure 5-2, 11-5

Rhode Island def George Washington 7-0, 8-1

Utah 4, UC Riverside 1 (Niki Hayhurst homer)

Sacred Heart def Fairleigh Dickinson 5-0, 5-1

Bowling Green 5, Eastern Michigan 1

Georgia Tech 2, Auburn 0

Texas-Arlington 3, Sam Houston State 2 (opening round of Southland tournament)

Wisconsin 7-3; Green Bay 4-3 (split Thursday)

 

Game Notes: Big 12 Tournament

Oklahoma notched the 1,000th win in the program's history in dramatic fashion Friday afternoon. OU ace Kami Keiter blasted a grand slam over the right field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Sooners jolted No. 20 Texas A&M, 4-0, in the Big 12 Tournament at ASA Hall of Stadium in Oklahoma City .

Keiter also recorded the win from the mound with seven strikeouts in a complete game for OU to improve to 27-5 on the season. The Sooners (39-10) move on to play No. 1-seed Texas at 5:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. Texas A&M fell to 34-19 as Lindsey Wilhelmson dropped to 16-6. Wilhelmson pitched a complete game for the Aggies despite absorbing two line drives back up the box.

The teams battled into extra innings before OU finally took the game on Keiter's screamer. The Sooners had five hits in the game with Kristin Vesely (2-for-4) and Christina Enea (2-for-3) accounting for the rest of the Oklahoma offense. Texas A&M scattered seven hits but stranded nine runners on base in the loss. OU left six on base.

Christina Enea hit her fifth double of the season to lead off the ninth inning for OU. Pinch runner Lori Shimasaki replaced Enea on second while Jennifer Stump drew a walk and was replaced at first by pinch runner Tiffany Weight. Erin Evans grounded out to third base for OU's first out but pushed Shimasaki to third and Weight to second. Sophomore catcher Heather Scaglione then walked to load the bases for the Sooners and Keiter stepped up to the plate.  On a 2-1 count, Keiter's grand slam beat the Aggies for the third time this season and moved Oklahoma to 30-19 all-time in the series. OU also improved to 21-9 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament.

The Sooners return to Hall of Fame Stadium at 5:30 Friday afternoon to spar with No. 1-seed Texas . The Longhorns won the 2003 Big 12 regular season title and dismissed Texas Tech, 7-1, last night in the opening round of the tournament. Oklahoma is 4-1 all-time against Texas in the Big 12 Tournament.

Nebraska scored three runs in the fifth inning and added two in the seventh to advance in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Tournament with a 5-0 win over Missouri . The game started out as a pitcher's duel between Nebraska 's Peaches James and Missouri 's Erin Kalka. Both hurlers had no hitter's through four innings.

NU's Sheena Lawrick started the fifth inning with a solo home run, her fourth of the season. The Huskers then mounted a two-out rally when Nicole Trimboli hit a two run triple scoring Anne Steffan and Kim Ogee who had walked earlier.
Nebraska added two runs in the top of the seventh when Amanda Buchholz hit a two-run home run off Missouri reliever Samantha Fleeman. Buchholz drove in Ogee who walked to lead off the frame.  James went five innings, gave up two hits, and struck out five to improve to 21-9 on the season. Kalka fell to 19-11, despite giving up just three hits. Nebraska will play No. 2 Oklahoma State Friday at 3 p.m. Missouri faces No. 10 Baylor in an elimination game Friday at 3 p.m.

Texas defeated Oklahoma 1-0 Friday evening in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Tournament at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City on a solo home run by Chez Sievers in the fourth inning and 15 Ks by Catherine Osterman.  The Sooners (39-11) suffered their first loss of the tournament and will move on to play Baylor at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the elimination game. Texas improved to 41-7 on the season and won its third game over the Sooners this season. The Longhorns swept OU in Austin during the regular season and moved to 2-4 against the Sooners in Big 12 Tournament action with the win.

Longhorn pitcher Cat Osterman (24-4) fanned 15 batters without a walk and gave up just one hit. OU leftfielder Jessica Leslie (1-for-3) singled through the left side in the seventh inning to ruin the no-hitter for Osterman. All but two Sooner batters struck out at least once.  For Oklahoma , Kami Keiter struck out three batters without issuing a walk but dropped to 27-6 with the loss. Keiter gave up just three hits and the home run.

Down 1-0, Oklahoma attempted a rally in the seventh. After Leslie's single to lead off the inning, Leah Gulla fouled out to Texas catcher Marlo Hanks. April Valdez struck out swinging and Osterman appeared to have the Sooners' next batter, Jennifer Stump, in the same situation. But in Stump's final swing, the ball got away from Hanks and Stump made it to first on the passed ball as Leslie dashed to third. With runners on the wings, Cat Osterman struck out Kelli Braitsch to seal the win for Texas .

Oklahoma State ’s  Megan Carey hit two home runs on Thursday as Oklahoma State 's softball team defeated Baylor, 8-0, at Don Porter ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City . Carey got the Cowgirls off to a quick start, going yard for the seventh time this season in the bottom of the first. Calli Behmer doubled then rounded the bases on Carey’s two-run bomb to left center.

Oklahoma State exploded for four runs in the fifth on four hits and one Baylor error. Back-to-back doubles from Jade Lindly and Stephanie Nicholson pushed the first run home. Calli Behmer then drew the walk and Ashleigh Tweed entered as a courtesy runner. Tweed and Nicholson stole second and third to set up Ryan Realmuto’s RBI single. Baylor then intentionally walked Bay and an error allowed Siebel to reach first and Realmuto to score. Stephanie Hodges plated the final run with a single to center field to bring Bay home.  Carey then ended the game just as she started, producing a two-run walk off home run just inside foul territory down the left field line.

The homer gave the Cowgirls the mercy-rule win, their first ever in the Big 12 Tournament and their largest margin of victory in the tournament’s eight year history.

Lauren Bay picked up the win for OSU, improving to 23-7 on the year. The lefty fanned eight, walked one and scattered three hits in the shutout. Katie Decker took the loss for Baylor, falling to 8-7. She struck out four and gave up eight runs on 11 hits.

Oklahoma State improves to 36-11 on the year and will face the winner of the Nebraska- Missouri contest at 8 p.m. on Friday. Baylor falls to 30-28 after the loss and plays the loser of the NU-MU contest at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Baylor upset Missouri 5-4.   Stephanie Pomes hit a leadoff home run in the top of the 11th inningThe Lady Bears eliminated the Tigers, who earlier in the day lost 5-0 to sixth-seeded Nebraska.  Baylor will play Oklahoma on Saturday morning.

Texas A&M kept its hopes alive by ousting Texas Tech 2-0.  Lindsay Wilhelmson homered and Jana James hit an rbi single.  James also took a potential home run away from Tech’s Kristi Robles with a running catch and reaching over the fence.

Oklahoma State edged Nebraska 3-2 in nine innings in a late game Friday.  Nebraska will now play Texas A&M Saturday, with the winner to face Texas .  Oklahoma State will await the winner of the morning game between Oklahoma and Baylor.  The last game of the night was one of the best of the tournament, a true pitchers’ shootout in which winner Lauren Bay fanned 15 Huskers and Peaches James struck out 17 Cowgirls.  The teams were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation: Brooke Seibel drove in 2 runs for OSU in the 4th and Sheena Lawrick singled in two runs for Nebraska in the 6th.  The Huskers had two on in the 7th but both runners were out on plays engineered by Stephanie Nicholson, the OSU shortstop.  Nebraska had two on again in the 9th, thanks to a walk and OSU’s third error, but Bay retired the last two batters.  James got a K but walked Stephanie Hodges; then an out seemed to take the pressure off, but Nicholson hit an rbi single to win the game.

Other Game Notes

Oregon State upset Washington 4-2.  Senior Clare Burnum's fifth inning two-run home run over the left-center field fence helped propel Oregon State to a 4-2 upset victory against No. 5 University of Washington in Friday's Pacific-10 Conference softball action.  The victory was just the second ever for Oregon State (31-25; 4-12 Pac-10) against Washington (40-11-1; 7-9 Pac-10) in Seattle , and the first since 1999. The victory also secured a winning season for the Beavers and possible fifth consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament berth.

The Beavers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Lisa Allen doubled off the left field wall to lead-off the frame and scored on Vanessa Iapala's chopper up the middle.  Washington evened things up in the bottom half of the frame, capitalizing on a pair of hits with Kathy Fiske crossing the plate on a single up the middle by Amanda Oleson. Beaver starter Amy Klever got out of a jam when Aimee Minor grounded out to end the inning with the bases loaded.

Oregon State 's big fifth inning started when Steph Adams blasted her ninth double of the season with a shot off the wall in left-center field. Adams ' double just missed going out of the park by a foot. Cara Maxey followed with a sacrifice bunt, setting up Burnum's ninth home run of the season.

The Huskies threatened in the bottom half of the fifth inning after Minor reached on a lead-off error. Minor became the first out when Jaime Clark reached on a fielder's choice, but moments later Beaver catcher Shelly Prochaska gunned down Clark attempting to steal second. Klever ended the frame by freezing Husky leading batter Kristen Rivera at the plate for her fourth strikeout of the contest.

OSU added to its lead with a run in the sixth inning when Iapala belted a two-out double high off the wall in right-center field and scored on chopper from Adams that bounced over the UW second baseman's head.

Washington pounded three hits in the sixth inning but the Beavers turned their 21st double play of the season - just one shy of the school record - and Klever fanned pinch hitter Courtney Jeffries to end the frame.   UW made the score 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh with an unearned run, but stranded a pair of runners on base when Dena Tyson popped up to end the game.

OSU tallied eight hits against UW ace Tia Bollinger (22-8) while Klever (8-7) earned her third Pac-10 victory this season for the Beavers.

UCLA edged Oregon 4-3, capitalizing on home runs from Tairia Mims, Claire Sua and Stephanie Ramos on Friday afternoon at Easton Stadium. The Bruins (41-5, 13-3 Pac-10) will next face Oregon State on Saturday, in what will be the first night game in the history of Easton Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7 pm .  The Ducks scored first, capitalizing on a lead-off walk that was came in to score on a ground-out by Andrea Vidlund when the fielders choice throw to the plate did not get the out. UCLA countered in the bottom half of the frame when  Tairia Mims hit her 16th home run of the season, a ball that looked to be a high fly ball deep to center field, but landed just outside of the fence for the home run, tying the game at 1-1.

Oregon regained the lead in the top of the fourth inning; Erin Goodell scored on a double by Breanne Sabol. The Bruins took their first lead of the game in the 4th, as Caitlin Benyi singled and scored when Claire Sua hit a monstrous home run that cleared the lower trees in left center on its way to Sunset Boulevard. Stephanie Ramos then followed with her seventh home run of the season off the top of the scoreboard in left field to give UCLA the 4-2 lead.

Andrea Vidlund picked up where she left off in Eugene in the seventh inning, hitting her 10th home run of the season and fourth off of Bruin pitchers this season, but UCLA still held a one-run lead, and would secure the 4-3 win when Alyssa Laux popped out for the final out of the game.  Michelle Turner struck out two as she earned her 11th win of the season.

Arizona State edged Stanford 1-0.  Freshman Ashley Werschky (8-4) pitched arguably the best game of her career as she limited No. 15 Stanford (36-21; 5-11 Pac-10) to four hits and no runs, lifting No. 16 Arizona State (29-19; 6-10 Pac-10) to a 1-0 win.  The Sun Devils got on the board first in the fourth inning on a hit and two Stanford errors. Kristin Farber opened the inning by reaching first on an error by the shortstop Lauren Lappin. Kara Brun then hit a shot to deep right centerfield to move Farber to second. Now with two outs, Keri Pulcifer worked the count full from Stanford starter Dana Sorensen. On the next pitch, Pulcifer hit a ground ball to second baseman Kira Ching, but she could not come up clean with the ball as Farber came around to just beat the throw home for the 1-0 lead.

Villanova defeated Notre Dame, for just the third time in school history, on the way to a split with the defending Big East Champions. The scores of the contests were Villanova 7-6 and Notre Dame 3-0. The split brings the Wildcats' record to 31-12-1 on the season and 12-6 in the Big East. Notre Dame stands at 32-14 overall and 13-2 in the conference.

Villanova went up 2-0 in the top of the first when Ricci Lugo led off the game with a double to right field. Lugo then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single from Sara Carlson. Carlson stole 2nd and scored on Kari Koller's RBI single to left.  The Wildcat’s opened up a 4-0 lead in the top of the third when Koller roped a Heather Booth pitch over the left field wall for her seventh homer of the season. Carlson, who had singled, scored on the homer.  One inning later, the Wildcats loaded the bases courtesy of a Kriste Romano fielder's choice, a Lugo single and a walk to Robin Flier. Lisa Krueger followed by ripping a single to centerfield to score Kristin Leese, who had come on to run for Romano. Lugo then came around to score on a fielder's choice, making the score 6-0 in favor of the Wildcats.

The Irish got one run back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Liz Hartmann.

Villanova came back in the top of the fifth when they led off the inning with back-to-back singles from Sarah Wall and Allison Wisniewski. Lugo was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Flier responded with a single to center, scoring pinch-runner Andrea Brown. The RBI proved to be the game-winner.

Notre Dame put four runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Andria Bledsoe scored on a Wildcat error. With two runners on, Hartmann drove a pitch over the centerfield wall to cut the Villanova lead to 7-5. The Irish mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh, but could only muster one run as Villanova emerged victorious for only the second time ever at Ivy Field.  Theresa Hornick improved to 16-7 on the season, while Shannon Williams pitched two-thirds of an inning for her second save of the season.

The Villanova offense did not fare as well in the nightcap, as the Wildcats were held to just two hits; a double by Lugo , and a single from Wall.  Notre Dame scored all the runs it would need in the bottom of the first on RBI singles from Andrea Loman and Bledsoe.   Williams took the loss, falling to 11-4 on the year.

 

Chez Sievers Ashley Werschky picked up her eighth win of the year as she shut out Stanford, 1-0.
Stephanie Nicholson Chez Sievers Kami Keiter Ashley Werschky

ANOTHER SISTER ACT

To our knowledge, they haven’t hit back to back homers, but Christina and Sarah Douglas have homered in the same game for DePaul.  And, Melissa and Natalie Rawson of Colgate University , and Natalie’s twin Nichole, at Marist, comprise a set of three sisters playing college ball.  Melissa is currently 2nd in the nation in BA at .509, 5th in HR's per game and has a 1.018 slugging percentage.  Melissa and Natalie are tied for 13th in RBI per game.  Natalie currently has a BA of .366, 8 HR's and a .693 slugging percentage. 

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