SUNDAY COLLEGE SOFTBALL

May 2, 2004

TOP 25 COLLEGE TEAMS

Stanford Upsets Arizona  2-1.  Dana Sorensen hurled a two-hitter, elevating the Cardinal to 10-5 in Pac 10, while the Wildcats are a solid leader at 12-2. Stanford went up 1-0 in the 2^nd when Leah Nelson drove in Lauren Lappin (2-3) who had singled.  With one out in the top of the fifth, Allister hit a double to left then Nelson walked. With two outs, second baseman Meghan Sickler hit an infield single to load the bases. Rightfielder Katherine Hoffman reached base on an error by the pitcher as Allister scored to put Stanford up, 2-0. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Wildcat Samantha Quintero hit a solo shot to rightfield to make the score, 2-1. Sorensen had 7 Ks. Alicia Hollowell (35-2) took the loss, giving up two runs on 12 hits with nine strikeouts. The 12 hits was a career high for Hollowell.

Washington 1, Oregon 0 (8).  Sarah Hyatt homered in the 8^th, snapping a 3-game Huskie losing streak vs the Ducks.  The Huskies are 8-5, the Ducks 9-6.  Ashley Boek pitched a 3-hitter (1 Ks), while Ani Nyhus took the loss.

LSU 4, Florida 1. Florida 3, LSU 1. In the first game, the Tigers scored 3 runs in the 4^th, two on a single by Ladonia Hughes. Jenilee Garner scored the Gator run on a throwing error. Kristin Schmidt got the win.  The Gators had a 3-0 lead by the 6^th inning of Game Two on rbi’s by Shelley Stevens and Butler (2).  Stacey Stevens pitched both games for Florida, getting the win after putting down an LSU threat in the 7^th.  Emily  Turner lost.

Georgia Tech sweeps Maryland 10-2 (6), 1-0.  The Terps briefly made a fight of it in Game One; down 3-0, Lauren Pollock singled in a run, and Keri Lounge homered in the 6^th to close the gap to 3-2.  Yo, the Rambling Wreck scored seven runs in the bottom of the 6^th – including a triple by Sara Wissman and a double by Tasha Waugh.  Jessica Sallinger was the winner, her 7^th straight (26-6).  Erin Voeltz out-gunned Jessica Aditays in the finale, a hard-fought pitchers’ game , decided by Kirin Kimar’s sac bunt in the 5^th.   The Terps had multiple opportunities including bases-loaded with two out in the 6^th.

Alabama 2, Georgia 1.  The 14th ranked University of Alabama softball team (39-16, 18-12) scored two early runs and that was all Tide pitcher Jennifer Wright needed as the Crimson Tide claimed a 2-1 win over the eighth ranked Georgia Bulldogs (46-14, 20-10). Wright (12-1) scattered six hits and allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings of action while striking out eight batters en route to her 12th win of the season. 

The win was Wright’s fifth in SEC action, the most she’s ever posted in conference play. Alabama took the early lead in the bottom of the second inning.  Stephanie VanBrakle led off with a single up the middle and was pinch run for by Emily Currie.  Dominique Accetturo sacrificed her to second.  Staci Ramsey then singled back up the middle, advancing Currie to third and was then pinch run for by Deasy Phillips.  Phillips stole second and then Capper Reed delivered a two-out single scoring both runners for the 2-0 Crimson Tide lead.

Georgia rallied in the top of the seventh inning with a lead off single, a ground-out and an RBI single from All-America Nicole Barber.  Barber stole second and was sacrificed to third.  Megan McAllister came to the plate with two outs and the tying run on third and worked the count to 3-2 before being hit on the foot by Wright.  VanBrakle came on in relief and struck out Ashley Godfrey to end the game and pick up her third save on the season.  The strikeout was VanBrakle’s 200th of the season, her first time hitting the 200-mark of her young career.

Oklahoma State 4, Baylor 1.  Oklahoma State’s softball team celebrated Senior Day with a 4-1 win against No. 21 Baylor in front of 572 fans on Sunday afternoon. Oklahoma State improves to 27-26 overall and 7-10 in league play while Baylor drops to 43-13 overall and 10-6 in conference action. Baylor scored one run in the first on a RBI single from Melissa Maler but Cowgirl starter Jessica Hoppock settled in and held the Bears to five hits over the next six innings. Baylor managed to get just three runners in scoring position after its first at-bat. Hoppock walked two and struck out three in the complete game effort. The Cowgirls came out firing in the first inning, starting with a pair of bloopers just out of the infield from Shanel Scott and Courtney Totte. Totte later scored the first run of the inning on a passed ball.  After just six batters, Baylor pulled Lisa Ferguson but she had already loaded the bases. Kristen Vitek entered but didn’t fare much better, giving up a RBI single to Lacy Darity and sending Megan Carey home with a bases loaded walk to give the Cowgirls a 3-1 lead. Oklahoma State plated one final run in the sixth on a RBI single from Totte and held off the Bears to win its final contest of the regular season. The Cowgirls have 10 days off before heading to the Big 12 Tournament May 12-15 at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. OSU will enter as the six or seven seed but the bracket will not be finalized until the conference season concludes next weekend.

Michigan sweeps Northwestern. 

The No. 6-ranked Michigan softball team secured the Big Ten title outright in dramatic fashion Sunday, May 2, as Tiffany Haas (left) hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Wolverines a 7-3 win in the second game of a doubleheader at Northwestern. The Wildcats won the opener 6-4. Grace Leutele hit a game-tying solo shot leading off the eighth to set the stage for Haas, who was 3-for 4 with two runs scored in the contest. U-M (46-9, 17-3 Big Ten) will host the Big Ten Tournament May 13-15.

Nebraska 4, Texas A&M 3 (10) Jamie Waldecker stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded, one out and a Big 12 Conference championship hanging in the balance. After taking the first pitch for a strike, the freshman from Garden Grove, Calif., lined a pitch off Texas A&M starter Jessica Kapchinski into center field to give Nebraska a 5-4 win and clinch the school's first Big 12 Championship since 2001. Nebraska is 14-1; the Aggies 13-3.  Peaches James was the winner.

South Florida, DePaul split. The Blue Devils 6-0; the Bulls 6-3.  USF split games against the DePaul Blue Demons Sunday with a 6-3 win in game one and a 6-0 loss in game two, the first time all season the Bulls have been shut out. Senior Holly Groves sparked the Bulls in game one with two home runs, her 15th and 16th of the season, which upped her RBI total to 75. She put the Bulls (50-10, 18-5) on the board in the second inning with a solo shot over the right center fence, and then junior Carmela Liwag added an RBI double in the third inning to give USF a 2-0 advantage. Two more runs in the fifth and Groves’ two-run knock over the left center fence in the seventh put the Bulls nearly out of reach of the Blue Demons, but a struggling defense in the bottom of the seventh nearly cost USF the game. Three errors allowed three runs in the final half inning for DePaul while starting pitcher Leigh Ann Ellis gave up one of her six hits on the game in the final inning. Ellis picked up the win to move to 34-4 on the season, while DePaul pitcher Katie Sheaks fell to 1-5 overall. Groves led the Bulls with a 2-for-4 effort with two runs and three RBI, while Samantha Ray followed closely, going 2-for-3 with a run. Linda Secka, Sheaks and Doezie each got on the base path and eventually scored because of errors. Sara Bandauski registered the only Blue Demon hit in the inning, a RBI single to right field, plating Doezie.  But the six run lead was too much for the Blue Demons to over come.  Dana Kenney recorded three of DePaul’s six hits in the first game. 
Sarah Martz pitched the Game Two shout for DePaul. The Bulls committed two errors in the bottom of the first, allowing the Blue Demons to take an early 1-0 lead. That lead stretched to three in the fifth off a USF error and three DePaul hits, and the Blue Demons managed their final three runs in the sixth off another USF error and two hits. The Blue Demon offense strung together 10 hits and took advantage of four USF errors.  Christina Douglas went 4-4 and notched two RBI, her twin, Sarah, notched two RBI as well. Up 1-0, in the fifth inning, the Douglas twins connected on back-to-back two-out doubles. Ashley Parker drove the ball to third, recording the infield single and allowing Sarah Douglas to cross the plate for the second run of the inning. DePaul added three more runs in the sixth. Christina Douglas tripled to right field, scoring Martz, who had a RBI-double earlier in the inning, and Kenney. In total the Bulls committed four errors in the game and countered that with only two hits, both from Christie Chapman. Freshman starting pitcher Kasey Cash picked up the loss after pitching four and two-thirds innings and giving up six hits, but only one earned run and striking out three.

Long Beach State 1, Pacific 0.  Colleen Burdick’s solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning lifted the Long Beach State softball team to a 1-0 victory over Pacific on Sunday at the 49er Complex. With the victory, LBSU took all three games from the Tigers. Burdick, who hit the solo blast over the left field wall with two outs, finished the afternoon 2-for-3. Arleigh Thorp and Jamie Farnworth both went 1-for-3. Pitcher, Marcel Torres collected the victory, improving her record to 13-2 and lowering her ERA to a league-low 0.77. Torres went 7.0 innings, scattering just two hits and striking out seven. Torres has pitched 23 consecutive scoreless innings and has only allowed seven hits since April 10.

 Louisiana-Lafayette sweeps Western Kentucky.  Down 3-2 in the 6th, Tiffany Grayson sparked a 4-run rally with a 3-run homer and the Ragin' Cajuns won 6-3, their 16th straight.  WKU took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 6th on a 2-run HR by Jessie Richardson off Brooke Mitchell.  Grayson was 3-3, as was Holly Tankersley, who belted her 15th HR earlier.Mitchell is now 36-3.  The Cajuns won the first game 9-2.  Danyele Gomez hit 2 HRs. Brooke Mitchell pitched a 1-hitter, fanning 10.

California 13, Arizona State 0 (5).  The Bears handed the Sun Devils their worst loss of the year, drawing on HRs by Haley Woods, Chelsea Spencer and Jessica Pamanian.  Cal led 8-0 after two at-bats. Kelly Anderson pitched a no-hitter, Sarah Adams working in the 5th.  Bre DeSanta started for ASU but was relieved by Desiree Serrano in the 1^st, tailing 4-0.  Spencer had 2 homers in Cal’s defeat of ASU on Saturday.

Notre Dame sweeps Pittsburgh. Notre Dame softball team (44-14, 16-0) dominated its doubleheader with Pittsburgh (20-31, 3-13) on Sunday, earning its ninth-straight BIG EAST regular-season title and the number one seed in the BIG EAST Championship, set for Syracuse, N.Y., on May 13-16. The Irish won game one 8-0 in six inning, then completed the sweep with a 9-0 victory in five innings. The Irish offense exploded for 23 hits in the two games, driving in 16 runs and posting seven extra base hits. Senior Nicole deFau, playing her final home games at Ivy Field, led the way with a four for six performance in the two games - driving in one run and scoring three.

OTHER COLLEGE GAMES

Iowa sweeps Wisconsin 5-0, 1-0.  In game one, Junior Lisa Birocci recorded nine strikeouts, setting a new single-season strikeout record at the University of Iowa. The Des Moines native now has 267 strikeouts on the season, topping the previous mark of 260 she set last year

Brown sweeps Yale for Ivy title.  Brown swept Yale in a doubleheader on Saturday, May 1. In game one, a five-run first inning propelled the Bears past the Bulldogs 8-3 and a two-run homerun by freshman Courtney Jenkin sealed the deal in game two with a 7-4 victory. With the wins, the Bears improve to 19-18 overall and 10-4 in Ivy League play. The Bears clinched the Ivy Title with the sweep and will share first-place honors with Cornell.

UC Santa Barbara 2, Utah State 1 (16).  It took 16 innings, but the UC Santa Barbara softball team posted a 2-1 victory over Utah State at Campus Diamond to record the Big West Conference series sweep.

NFCA SCOREBOARD