Softball Shuts Out UTEP 9-0, Outlasts Hawaii 6-4

Saturday, February 21

Honolulu, HI

3:30 PM

University of Washington

12-2

Bank of Hawaii Invitational: UTEP

2-11

Washington

UTEP

February 22, 2015 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Washington Athletics

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Washington softball improved to 13-2 after tallying two wins on the second day of the Bank of Hawaii Invitational in Honolulu Saturday. Washington shut out UTEP, 9-0, before coming out on top in a back-and-forth slugfest with Hawaii, 6-4. The Huskies are now 3-0 in the tournament and have earned the No. 1 seed in bracket play tomorrow.

Led by a strong 2-hit performance from sophomore Casey Stangel (3-0) in the circle, Washington earned a 9-0 shutout win over UTEP in the first game of the day. The Husky bats were led by Courtney Gano who drove in four of Washington's nine runs off two home runs.

UTEP falls to 2-11 overall on the season after Stangel limited their offense to just two hits and three walks with one strikeout. Her effort, along with Gano's hot bat, helped lead the Huskies to their second win of the tournament.

Washington started the scoring in the top of the third after Melhart led off with a bunt-single then moved to third on a throwing error. After Taylor Van Zee and Kylee Lahners drew back-to-back walks, Kimberlee Souza followed with a double to score Van Zee. With runners at second and third, Courtney Gano stepped to the plate and delivered her sixth home run of the season, a three-run shot to give the Huskies an early 5-0 lead.

UTEP threatened in the bottom half of the inning, drawing a leadoff walk and a hard hit ball up the middle looked to be a base hit but Ali Aguilar dove to her left and flipped from her glove to get the lead runner out at second.

After a scoreless fourth, Gano hit her second home run of the game to give the Huskies a 6-0 lead. Freshmen Krystal Aubert and Julia DePonte then hit back-to-back singles to bring up Kelly Meggs who delivered her first career hit and RBI to bring home Aubert. Melhart followed by hitting the fourth consecutive single for the Huskies, but Washington was unable to bring any more runs across and headed to the bottom of the fifth leading 6-0.

The Huskies tacked on two more in the sixth to run away with the run rule victory. Gano hit a one-out single, Aubert drew a walk and Casey Stangel came in to pinch hit. She delivered a double to score Aubert and DePonte who reached on a fielder's choice.

GAME TWO: Washington 6, Hawaii 4

Van Zee was part of a dominant top of the order for Washington, who along with Aguilar and Lahners went a combined 6-9 with four runs and five RBI in the game. Senior Kasey Stanchek made the start and threw the first 2.2 innings and junior Hailey Bator (7-0) earned the win in relief, holding the Rainbow Wahine to just two hits for the remainder of the game.

Hawaii jumped out to an early lead in the first after back-to-back doubles scored the first run of the game. The Rainbow Wahine then went on to score off a wild pitch and led 2-0 after one inning of play.

The UH lead was trimmed in half in the second after Kelli Suguro's second home run of the season gave Washington their first run of the game.

Trailing 2-1 in the third, Van Zee hit a single, stole second and reached third on a throwing error. Lahners then stepped to the plate and delivered a line drive home run to put the Huskies on top, 3-2.

After Hawaii hit a solo home run to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third, Washington went on to score two more runs in the fourth thanks to Van Zee's two-run home run to put the Dawgs back on top, 5-3.

Hawaii used a single and a throwing error to tack on a run in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 5-4 game, but that proved to be the final run for the Rainbow Wahine as the Husky defense buckled down.

Washington added insurance in the sixth after Aguilar's line drive to center field scored Kelly Burdick who reached on a throwing error.

The Huskies are now 3-0 in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational and have earned the No. 1 seed in bracket play tomorrow. Washington will play the No. 4 seed, UTEP at 1 p.m. PT.