University of Washington
41-15
NCAA Regionals: USC Upstate
43-9
Washington Knocks Off USC Upstate, 4-1, To Start NCAA Tourney
May 15, 2015 | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Washington posted double-digit hits for the 31st time this season and senior pitcher Kasey Stanchek gave up just two hits in seven innings worked to propel the Huskies to a 4-1 victory over USC Upstate to open the 2015 NCAA Softball Tuscaloosa Regional held at Rhoads Stadium on Friday afternoon.
“It's good to get the first one out of the way,” said head coach Heather Tarr, who earned her 49th postseason win. “We played a great team in USC Upstate and faced a great pitcher in Lexi Shubert. I was happy with our ability to score early off of her and do what we needed to do. We didn't get a couple of the big hits I thought we could have got. We played okay on defense. (Kasey) Stancheck threw well enough for us to win. I'm happy for our team.”
Both teams scored their first runs of the game in untraditional fashion as the Huskies scored off a wild pitch in the first inning and Upstate scored their lone run off a squeeze bunt in the second.
Stanchek and the Husky defense set the tone early, recording a three up, three down inning to start the game. The Huskies took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning as senior Kylee Lahners led off with a single down the line and advanced to third off freshman Taylor Van Zee's single into right-center. Lahners then scored off a wild pitch by Upstate's starting pitcher Lexi Shubert.
Upstate drew a leadoff walk in the second frame and advanced into scoring position after stealing second. After Stanchek recorded her first strikeout of the game, the runner advanced to third off an illegal pitch. The Spartans drew a walk to put runners at the corners and despite a close play at the plate, a squeeze bunt back to Stanchek tied the game at 1-1.
Souza led off the bottom of the second with one of her three hits on the day, a single through the 5-6 hole but she was left stranded at first after the Spartans retired the next three Husky batters in order.
Upstate took advantage of a Husky error to reach base in the third, but a pop up and a ground out to McNeill at third base ended the inning as the game remained locked at 1-1.
With one out in the bottom of the third, Van Zee gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead, hitting her seventh home run of the season. After Aguilar followed Van Zee's homer with a line drive single up the middle, the Huskies used a two-out rally to build a two-run lead. Sophomore Casey Stangel drew a walk and with runners at first and second, Souza delivered a single down the left field line and Aguilar wheeled around second for Washington's third run of the game.
After two straight pop-ups in the fourth, Upstate drew a two-out walk but a ground out to short ended the inning as the Huskies took a 3-1 edge heading to the bottom of the inning.
The Husky bats stayed alive in the fourth as junior Jennie McNeill reached on an infield single and Lahners ripped a double in the left-center gap to put a pair on with one out but the Spartans retired the next two Husky batters to end the frame.
Upstate, who had 479 hits entering the game, was finally able to get to Stanchek in the fourth hitting a two-out single, but that was all as Stanchek induced a fly out to end the inning.
Another two-out rally in the fifth scored the Huskies fourth run of the game as Souza delivered her third hit, a solo home run to give the Huskies 4-1 lead. The solo shot was Souza's sixth homer of the season.
The Spartans recorded their second hit in the top of the sixth, hitting a single to left but Stanchek recorded a pair of strikeouts for five total in the game to keep Upstate at bay.
Stanchek used 10 pitches in the seventh to end the game, as the Husky defense recorded a three up, three down inning just as they did to begin the contest.
Souza led the Dawgs at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two RBI. Van Zee and Lahners each recorded two hits. Stanchek earned her 14th win of the season, giving up just two hits and one run while striking out five.
Washington returns to action tomorrow, Saturday, May 16 at 9 a.m. PT against No. 6 Alabama who won the second game, 8-0, against Fairfield.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stanchek, Kasey (14-7)
L: SHUBERT (33-6)
Batting:
RBI: GRIFFIN 1
SH: GRIFFIN 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CHAPPELEAR 1
SB: CHAPPELEAR 1
Batting:
2B: Lahners, Kylee 1
HR: Van Zee, Taylor 1 ; Souza, Kimberlee 1
RBI: Van Zee, Taylor 1 ; Souza, Kimberlee 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Lahners, Kylee 1 ; Van Zee, Taylor 1 ; Aguilar, Ali 1 ; Souza, Kimberlee 1
SB: Van Zee, Taylor 1
HBP: Suguro, Kelli 1
