Washington Splits Twinbill At Libby Matson Tournament

Friday, February 27

Stockton, CA

1:00 PM

University of Washington

14-4

Libby Matson Tournament: North Dakota State

8-3

Washington

NORTH DAKOTA STATE

Photo by: Washington Athletics

February 28, 2015 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Washington Athletics

NDSU 6, Washington 5 | Stats
Washington 9, Pacific 0 | Stats

STOCKTON, Calif. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Washington softball team split a pair of games to open its six-game weekend in California. The Huskies narrowly fell to North Dakota State in the final inning, 6-5, before bouncing back to shut out Pacific, 9-0 at the Libby Matson Tournament on Friday (Feb. 27).

The Huskies outhit the competition 17-14 with eight different players recording hits on the day. Sophomore Ali Aguilar and senior Kelli Suguro each tallied three hits while junior Courtney Gano registered five RBI.

Sophomore Casey Stangel took the loss in the opener, allowing 10 hits, three walks and striking out three. Senior Kasey Stanchek earned the win in the second game, fanning five while only allowing three hits and no runs through six innings.

The Huskies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against NDSU after Kylee Lahners hit her fifth home run of the season. Lahners now has 43 career home runs and cracks into the top three all-time at Washington. Atop the leaderboard is Kristen Rivera (79 in 2002-05), Jaime Clark (73 in 2000-03) and Jennifer Cline (43 in 1993-1996).

The Bison responded in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two runs, including a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1. The Bison followed that with a double and used a wild pitch and walk to put runners on the corners. Miscommunication during the throw down at second scored a run and NDSU went on top, 2-1.

The Purple and Gold drew even in the third. Aguilar was hit by pitch and Taylor Van Zee followed with a single. Gano's hit plated Aguilar who came around to score from second and lock the game at 2-2.

The Huskies regained the lead in the top of the fourth using a two-out rally to go back on top, 3-2. Dani Braun drew a walk, stole second and came home off Kelli Suguro's hit, a rocket off the first baseman's glove.

NDSU threatened in the bottom half of the inning, using two pitches to put the tying run into scoring position. The Bison hit a single and advanced off a bunt, but a ground out and pop out ended the inning as the Huskies escaped unscathed still leading 3-2.

Washington tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-2 lead. Stangel helped her own cause, hitting a stand-up double to score Van Zee who reached on an error and Lahners who drew a walk.

The Bison scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5-5. Hailey Bator entered the circle to begin the inning. NDSU loaded the bases and scored off a wild pitch to trim their deficit to two runs. With the bases loaded, Stangel reentered the circle. The Bison then hit a single to score two runs and lock the game at 5-5.

With the game still tied in the seventh, NDSU hit a lead-off double and used a single and intentional walk to load the bases. The Bison then drew a walk to score the game-winning run and hand the Huskies their fourth loss.

Washington 9, Pacific 0

Kasey Stanchek fanned five Tiger hitters in the second game of the double dip. She allowed just three hits to pick up her fourth win of the year.

The Huskies were led by Aguilar's three doubles and Gano's four RBI. Suguro and freshman Julia DePonte also recorded two hits in the contest.

The UW took another early lead after Aguilar hit a leadoff double and Van Zee drew a walk. The pair advanced off Lahners' bunt and Gano's hard groundout to first plated Aguilar for the first run of the game.

The Huskies led 2-0 in the fourth after Stangel opened the inning with a solo shot to center for her second home run of the season.

Washington tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Aguilar delivered an RBI double to put Washington ahead 3-0, forcing the Tigers to make a pitching change. Van Zee kept the rally alive with a hit and Lahners walked to load the bases. After Aguilar was thrown out at home on the force out, the Huskies scored off an error for the second run of the inning.

The Huskies broke the game open in the sixth inning, plating five runs, highlighted by a bases-clearing double by Gano to go on top 9-0 and give Stanchek an opportunity to send Washington to their sixth run-rule victory of the season.

Stanchek set Pacific down in order in the sixth for a complete game shutout and the Huskies improved to 15-4 on the season.

Washington is back in action tomorrow playing in the Santa Clara Invitational. The Huskies are scheduled to play Howard at 10 a.m. and Santa Clara at 12:15 p.m.