No. 1 UW Sweeps No. 7 Fresno State, No. 14 Iowa At Kia Klassic

Thursday, March 16

Fullerton, Calif.

5:00 PM

University of Washington

1-0

Fresno State

0-1

Washington

Fresno State

Jenny Topping Earns NFCA Player Of The Week Honors

No. 1 UW Sweeps No. 7 Fresno State, No. 14 Iowa At Kia Klassic

March 16, 2000 | Softball

Box Score

By: Washington Athletics

March 16, 2000

Box Score

FULLERTON, Calif. - The top-ranked Washington softball team blanked No. 7 Fresno State 7-0 and downed No. 14 Iowa 5-1 Thursday at the Kia Klassic to improve to 26-1, the best start in program history. Redshirt freshman Jenny Topping's home run against the Hawkeyes broke the school record for dingers in a season both by an individual (14) and the team (40).

Freshman Jaime Clark added another homer against Iowa, her 10th of the year, and Topping put another over the fence against the Bulldogs (22-8) to finish the day with 15 individually and 41 for the team. Washington will face No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday at 9 a.m. in the final game of pool play. Playoffs begin Friday evening, with the semifinals and final on Sunday.

Senior Jamie Graves (14-0) recorded her second shutout of the season against Fresno State, holding the Bulldogs hitless until the fifth inning and giving up just three hits for the game. The Huskies got 12 hits, the 12th time they have recorded double-digit hits in a game this season.

Against Iowa (13-5), senior Jennifer Spediacci pitched a two-hitter and struck out 11 to improve to 12-1 in her 10th complete game of the season. The Huskies came out strong, scoring two runs in the first inning off a single by junior Kelly Hauxhurst and Topping's four-bagger.

Iowa's Liz Dennis answered with a home run of her own in the second, but UW came back with three in the fifth inning. Senior Rosie Leutzinger led off with a single and a stole base before a double by Topping brought Leutzinger home. Clark's homer followed to finish the scoring.

Washington jumped out to another 2-0 lead in the first inning against the Bulldogs, looking much like the fifth frame against Iowa. Leutzinger singled and stole second, and Topping homered. Another run came in the next inning. Senior Melissa Downs singled, Graves sacrificed pinch runner Jessica Bork to second, and then Bork scored on senior Erin Helgeland's single to left center field.

Junior Kim DePaul scored her 29th run of the year in the third frame, singling, moving to third on Topping's walk, and coming home on fielder's choices by Clark and Downs. The sixth frame saw three more Huskies cross home plate off three hits. Leutzinger and Hauxhurst led off with singles and moved up when DePaul was hit by a pitch. Topping's long single to center field scored Leutzinger and Hauxhurst. Clark's fielder's choice put DePaul out, and a walk by Downs moved everyone up. Pinch runner Becky Simpson came home on a grounder by Graves.

Mar. 16, 2000
No. 1 Washington 5, No. 14 Iowa 1

Iowa	        010 000 0	1 2 4
Washington	200 030 x	5 8 1

Kristi Hanks, Kelly Zeilstra (5) and Katy Jendrzejewski, Jennifer Spediacci and Jeanine Giordano. WP-Spediacci (12-1). LP-Hanks (6-3). LOB-Iowa 4, UW 6. 2B-Iowa: Boney. UW: Topping. HR-Iowa: Dennis, UW: Topping, Clark.

No. 1 Washington 7, No. 7 Fresno State 0

Washington	211 003 0	7 12 0
Fresno State	000 000 0	0 3 0

Jamie Graves and Jeanine Giordano, Kristen Hunter, Amanda Scott (3) and Pam West. WP-Graves (14-0). LP-Hunter (7-5). LOB-UW 12, FSU 6. 3B-UW: Leutzinger. HR-UW: Topping.