Thursday, May 31
Oklahoma City, OK
11:30 AM
University of Washington
50-8
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Oklahoma
55-4
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7
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Washington
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Oklahoma
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Photo by: Joshua R. Gateley / Oklahoma Sports Photography
Washington Blanks Oklahoma 2-0, Advances In WCWS Bracket
May 31, 2018 | Softball
OKLAHOMA CITY – The #5 Washington Huskies used superb pitching and excellent defense to pick up a 2-0 shutout win over #4 Oklahoma in the Women's College World Series Thursday. Gabbie Plain and Taran Alvelo combined to shutout Oklahoma, with Washington's two runs in the fifth enough for the win. Washington advances to play #1 Oregon in the next round of the WCWS bracket.
Plain was near perfect for the day, allowing only two baserunners in her first five innings and no runs at all in the game. Plain worked 5.2 innings before ceding the circle to Alvelo, who picked up the save with 1.1 scoreless innings.
The Huskies put the leadoff batter on four times in the game and had at least one baserunner in each of the first six innings, beginning with Sis Bates' double in the first during an eight-pitch at-bat.
Plain would start the game with a 1-2-3 first that included her only strikeout, a swinging K of Jocelyn Alo. Four of Plain's innings went 1-2-3 as the freshman faced just one batter over the minimum through the first four innings.
After putting runners in scoring position in two of the first four innings, the Huskies broke the tie with two runs in the fifth. Trysten Melhart drew a leadoff walk to start the rally. Kelly Burdick bunted after that and reached first before both runners moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt.
Bates' bunt put the first run of the game on the board. Bates dropped the ball just a bit in front of the circle. Melhart, who broke as soon as the ball was released, slid in hard, getting under a high tag and making it 1-0.
Julia DePonte added an insurance run for the Huskies two pitches later when she ripped a single into center. That allowed Burdick to score with ease and make it 2-0.
Those runs were plenty for the Huskies, who continued to shine defensively and in the circle. Plain retired nine in a row after giving up a single in the third inning. Alvelo would come in with two on and two out and end the sixth thanks in part to a beautiful diving catch by Melhart.
After getting out of that jam, Alvelo threw a scoreless seventh to end the game and wrap up her third save of the season, getting the swinging strikeout to clinch the Husky win.
Notes
Make sure to follow Husky softball on Twitter with the username @UWSoftball and on Instagram at uwsoftball.
Plain was near perfect for the day, allowing only two baserunners in her first five innings and no runs at all in the game. Plain worked 5.2 innings before ceding the circle to Alvelo, who picked up the save with 1.1 scoreless innings.
The Huskies put the leadoff batter on four times in the game and had at least one baserunner in each of the first six innings, beginning with Sis Bates' double in the first during an eight-pitch at-bat.
Plain would start the game with a 1-2-3 first that included her only strikeout, a swinging K of Jocelyn Alo. Four of Plain's innings went 1-2-3 as the freshman faced just one batter over the minimum through the first four innings.
After putting runners in scoring position in two of the first four innings, the Huskies broke the tie with two runs in the fifth. Trysten Melhart drew a leadoff walk to start the rally. Kelly Burdick bunted after that and reached first before both runners moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt.
Bates' bunt put the first run of the game on the board. Bates dropped the ball just a bit in front of the circle. Melhart, who broke as soon as the ball was released, slid in hard, getting under a high tag and making it 1-0.
Julia DePonte added an insurance run for the Huskies two pitches later when she ripped a single into center. That allowed Burdick to score with ease and make it 2-0.
Those runs were plenty for the Huskies, who continued to shine defensively and in the circle. Plain retired nine in a row after giving up a single in the third inning. Alvelo would come in with two on and two out and end the sixth thanks in part to a beautiful diving catch by Melhart.
After getting out of that jam, Alvelo threw a scoreless seventh to end the game and wrap up her third save of the season, getting the swinging strikeout to clinch the Husky win.
Notes
- This was Washington's 25th win all-time in the WCWS.
- Washington now has 50 wins, its tenth 50-win season and second in a row.
- Plain (5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 K) has gone 5+ IP and allowed zero runs in 12 appearances now this season.
- Plain now has an eight-game winning streak, with a 0.59 ERA in that time.
- In her last ten games, DePonte (1x4, RBI) has hit .406 with six double, two homers, and eight RBI.
- Melhart (1x2, R, BB) has hit .412 this postseason, with hits in the last five games.
- Burdick (1x3, R) has her first 50-hit season after today's performance.
- Burdick is the fifth Husky to record 50+ hits this year. Only once in the last 20 years has Washington had more than five players record 50+ hits: 2015, when six did.
- Van Zee (1x3) became the eighth Husky ever to record 270+ career hits.
Make sure to follow Husky softball on Twitter with the username @UWSoftball and on Instagram at uwsoftball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Plain, Gabbie (21-4)
L: Parker, P. (29-3)
S: Alvelo, Taran (3)
Batting:
2B: Bates, Sis 1
RBI: Bates, Sis 1 ; DePonte, Julia 1
SH: Van Zee, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Melhart, Trysten 1 ; Burdick, Kelly 1
SB: Milloy, Amirah 1
HBP: Thomas, Kirstyn 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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