May 9, 1998
SEATTLE--A two-and-a-half hour rain delay did not disrupt Washington ace Jamie Graves, who pitched her first-ever perfect game and the second ever in UW history to lead the fourth-ranked Huskies to a 3-0 defeat of Arizona State on Saturday at Husky Softball Stadium. UW went on to hand the Sun Devils another 3-0 blanking in the nightcap to improve to 46-11 overall and 19-7 in the Pac-10. Washington will host No. 1 Arizona on Sunday at 2 p.m. Graves (18-4) struck out five and threw 75 pitches to the 21 batters she faced. She has just missed two other perfect games already this season, spoiling both by hitting a batter against No. 18 Utah and Marshall. The Husky defense and bats provided Graves with the necessary support for the win, although the first run did not come until the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore Erin Helgeland led off the frame with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Graves. Senior Leah Francis helped Helgeland to third with a single before sophomore Rosie Leutzinger hit a sacrifice fly to right field for the RBI. Washington then scored two insurance runs in the sixth, the first of which began as a near replay of the previous run. Freshman Kim DePaul walked and advanced to second on a sacrifice by senior Eve Gaw. Helgeland then doubled DePaul home and scored herself on an error during Graves at bat. The second game saw sophomore Jennifer Spediacci (21-5) strike out eight and give up only three hits for the complete-game win. UW collected 10 hits in the nightcap. DePaul led off the scoring in the third inning on three straight singles by DePaul, Gaw and junior Becky Newbry. Two more runs off four hits in the fifth wrapped up the scoring. Freshman Kelly Hauxhurst, Gaw, Newbry and Spediacci all hit singles, with Newbry and Spediacci also collecting an RBI each. Game One Arizona State 000 000 0 -- 0 0 2 Washington 000 012 x -- 3 3 0 Roxanne Tsosie and Andrea Rodgers; Jamie Graves and Jeanine Giordano. WP-Graves (18-4). LP-Tsosie (22-10). 2B-UW, Erin Helgeland. Game Two Arizona State 000 000 0 -- 0 3 1 Washington 001 020 x -- 3 10 0 Carrie Breedlove and Andrea Rodgers; Jennifer Spediacci and Jeanine Giordano. WP-Spediacci (21-5). LP-Breedlove (14-14). |
