University of Washington
5-1
Littlewood Classic: Boston University
0-2
Huskies Split In First Day Of Littlewood Classic
February 13, 2015 | Softball
Washington 11, Boston U. 3 | Stats
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Washington softball kicked off a seven-game road trip in Arizona on Friday at the Littlewood Classic on the campus of Arizona State University. UW (5-2) split the first two games of the tournament, defeating Boston University, 11-3 before the No. 15 Huskies fell to No. 4 Oklahoma, 8-7 in the second game of the day. The Dawgs did not go down without a fight, however, as the Huskies scored more runs in the sixth inning than Oklahoma had given up in their entire opening weekend.
"Our team is still finding our identity and figuring out where we're at, but we're continuing to grow and learn together," head coach Heather Tarr said. "Oklahoma is a great team and to have continued opportunities to stay in the game was a positive sign. Kasey Stanchek did an awesome job in the circle to keep us in the game and give us a chance to come back. Offensively, we're very deep and have a lot of weapons so it's tough for teams to pitch around us. When we play a complete game and hit the way that we know how to hit, we're going to win a lot of those games."
Washington posted 11 runs on 13 hits for a convincing 11-3 run-rule victory in their first game of the day against the Terriers. Sophomore Casey Stangel earned her first win in the circle, tossing 4.1 innings before freshman Kristin Cochran made her first appearance of the season to close out the game. Junior Courtney Gano went 3-3, including three RBI and a home run to pace Washington's offense and help lead the Huskies to their third run-rule victory of the season.
Washington jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after stringing together four one-out hits. Tayor Van Zee's double started the rally as she went on to score the first run of the game off a Kylee Lahners' RBI single. Kimberlee Souza's double brought home Lahners and the Huskies went on top 2-0. Courtney Gano continued her hot hitting from last weekend, ripping a triple in her opening at-bat to score pinch runner Jennie McNeill. A sac-fly by Casey Stangel then scored Gano as the Huskies took an early 4-0 lead.
Boston added a run of their own in the first after a couple of singles and a catcher's interference call loaded the bases and the Terriers drew a walk for their first run of the game.
The Huskies tacked on two more runs in the third after Souza was hit-by-pitch and Gano hit a stand-up double to put a pair on. Stangel earned her third RBI of the game when her double knocked both runners home and the Huskies took a quick 6-1 lead.
After Souza drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, the Huskies went on to hit three home runs off three straight pitches and take a 10-1 advantage. Gano hit her first home run of the day before Stangel and Suguro followed suit, hitting their first home runs of the season.
Boston scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but it was too little and too late to keep the game from ending via run-rule as the Huskies went on to win 11-3.
Oklahoma 8, Washington 7 | Stats
In the second game of the day, Oklahoma held a 6-0 lead going into the sixth inning, but a six run inning by the Huskies tied the game at 6-6. OU's freshman starter Paige Parker had yet to allow a hit this season, but four singles in the first five at-bats by Washington in the sixth ended that streak and the 6-0 OU lead was trimmed to 6-2 with runners still on base with only one out.
Oklahoma was forced to make a pitching change and it worked out in Washington's favor as Gano hit her fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot to trim the Sooner lead to 6-5. Stangel hit a double and advanced off a Kelli Suguro single before Dani Braun came through with a single to tie the game at 6-6.
In the seventh inning, Shelby Pendley led off with a single to left field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Erin Miller's single into the left field corner broke the tie and gave OU a slight 7-6 advantage.
With runners on the corners, Whitney Ellis laid down a perfectly executed squeeze bunt as the Sooners tacked on another, which proved pivotal, to take a 8-6 lead.
After Lahners hit a one out single and advanced to third off a wild pitch, Souza drew a walk. With runners on second and third, Gano singled up the middle to trim the lead to one run. Parker then re-entered the game in the circle to try to close out the game for the Sooners. She got a Husky pop out for the second out.
Gano stole second to put the winning run into scoring position, but another fly ball recorded the final out as the Huskies comeback fell short.
Gano and Lahners led the Dawgs at the plate, each recording two hits with four and two RBI, respectively. Hailey Bator started the game in the circle for Washington, pitching the first two innings before Kasey Stanchek tossed the final five innings.
The Huskies contine play in the Littlewood Classic on Saturday with an 8 a.m. PT matchup against North Texas before a 10:15 a.m. PT game against Illinois State.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stangel, Casey (1-0)
L: Russell, Melanie (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Van Zee, Taylor 1 ; Souza, Kimberlee 1 ; Gano, Courtney 1 ; Stangel, Casey 1
3B: Gano, Courtney 1
HR: Gano, Courtney 1 ; Stangel, Casey 1 ; Suguro, Kelli 1 ; Aubert, Krystal 1
RBI: Lahners, Kylee 1 ; Souza, Kimberlee 1 ; Gano, Courtney 3 ; Stangel, Casey 4 ; Suguro, Kelli 1 ; Aubert, Krystal 1
SF: Stangel, Casey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Van Zee, Taylor 1 ; Lahners, Kylee 1 ; Souza, Kimberlee 2 ; Gano, Courtney 3 ; Stangel, Casey 1 ; Suguro, Kelli 1 ; Aubert, Krystal 1 ; McNeill, Jennie 1
SB: Van Zee, Taylor 1
CS: Aubert, Krystal 1
HBP: Souza, Kimberlee 1
Batting:
RBI: Younan, Brittany 1 ; Martinez, Gabi 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Wong, Emma 1 ; Connolly, Moriah 2
