University of Washington
8-1
Ohio State
5-4
Softball Takes Game One At Mary Nutter, 11-4
February 24, 2017 | Softball
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – No. 8 Washington (8-1) went into the seventh inning tied with Ohio State (5-4), but came out one top after scoring eight runs in the final inning for a 11-4 win in their first game of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
The Huskies entered the fifth inning trailing the Buckeyes, but tied it up at five apiece after a sacrifice fly and bunt. A lead-off single from Taylor Van Zee ignited the offense in the last frame and allowed the Huskies to take the lead. The squad strung together four hits and were walked four times, allowing eight runners to cross home plate.
The first scoring opportunity came from Kaija Gibson with a single in the top of the first. Taylor Van Zee hit a sacrifice fly that plated Gibson to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
The Buckeyes responded in the bottom half of the frame after Emily Clark launched a three-run homer to left field to put them up, 3-1.
In the top of the fifth with no outs, Van Zee stepped up to the plate with the go-ahead runs on base. The junior hit her second sacrifice fly of the day that allowed Kelly Burdick to come home from third. Sis Bates bunted a single and advanced to second on an error by Ohio State's first baseman. The error brought Aguilar home from second.
The Huskies finished their offensive drive tied at 3-3 at the end of the fifth inning.
The teams remained tied until the seventh inning. Van Zee reached on a fielder's choice and was advanced after a single from Bates. Trysten Melhart loaded the bases with a bunt. Flores got walked with bases loaded to give the Huskies the 4-3 lead. Four more walks and a fielding error led to five more runs for the Huskies. With the score at 9-3, Bates singled up the right side, allowing two more runs in, extending their lead to 11-3.
Ohio State's Alex Bayne hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Buckeye's four runs but the opposing team was unable to catch up to the Huskies' double-digits score.
The team immediately faced Missouri following their win over Ohio State but fell to the No. 20 ranked team. A full recap of the game can be found here.
The Huskies will continue their campaign at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic tomorrow when they face Northwestern at 10 a.m. Live stats will be available at GoHuskies.com and live video coverage will be provided by FloSoftball.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Alvelo, Taran (6-0)
L: Ray (254-0)
Batting:
RBI: Aguilar, Ali 1 ; Van Zee, Taylor 3 ; Bates, Sis 2 ; Flores, Morganne 1 ; Gibson, Kaija 1 ; Burdick, Kelly 1
SH: Bates, Sis 1
SF: Van Zee, Taylor 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Aguilar, Ali 2 ; Van Zee, Taylor 1 ; Bates, Sis 1 ; Melhart, Trysten 1 ; Gallagher, Maggie 1 ; Thomas, Kirstyn 1 ; Gibson, Kaija 2 ; Burdick, Kelly 2
Batting:
HR: Kirk 1 ; Clark 1
RBI: Kirk 1 ; Clark 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Kirk 1 ; Bayne 1 ; Piper 1 ; Clark 1
HBP: Bayne 1
