May 29, 1999
OKLAHOMA CITY - The sixth-ranked Washington softball team used two doubles in the third inning and a one-hitter by junior Jennifer Spediacci to hand No. 3 Arizona a 3-0 loss on the second day of the College World Series. The win was UW's first over the Wildcats in postseason play and puts the Huskies in the semifinals.
Washington, now 50-17, will play on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CT against the winner between Fresno State, which fell 1-0 to UCLA earlier today, and the Arizona State/California winner. Both of those games will take place on Saturday. The UW game will be aired live on espn2, as will the second game, if necessary and the championship game on Sunday. All Husky games also will be broadcast live on KSRB 1150-AM.
>Junior Rosie Leutzinger and sophomore Kelly Hauxhurst hit back-to-back doubles in the third inning with two outs after freshman Shannon Walsh walked to score the first two runs of the game. Then in the fourth frame senior Becky Newbry doubled and stole third before scoring off junior Melissa Downs' single past third base. Including sophomore Kim DePaul's two-bagger to lead off the sixth inning, UW tied Cal State Fullerton's WCWS team record with four doubles in a game.
"I couldn't be more pleased with our team," UW head coach Teresa Wilson said. "They did an incredible job. We put it all together tonight. Our defense got the job done tonight."
After Arizona's Lauren Bauer doubled in the first inning, Spediacci (23-8) retired 17 batters in a row before making a fielding error in the sixth frame to end the streak. In all, she faced just two over the minimum and struck out seven in her 11th shutout of the season and second shutout of Arizona this year. UW's only other win over the Wildcats this season was a 9-0 run-rule in six innings in Tucson. Spediacci has thrown six complete-game one-hitters this season.
"We came throw when we needed to," said Spediacci. "We were pretty solid all the way around. Coach was mixing things (pitches) up pretty well; we were setting up things a little bit different. But you can't relax against Arizona. If you start to relax, they can score a lot of runs."
Washington is now 26-9 all-time in the College World Series and has won its first two games of the tournament only once before, when the 1996 squad fell to Arizona in the title game. Last season the Wildcats handed UW an 8-0 loss on the second day.
Women's College World Series-Game 6 Washington 002 100 0 3 5 1 Arizona 000 000 0 0 1 0 Jennifer Spediacci and Jeanine Giordano; Jennie Finch and Lindsey Collins. WP-Spediacci (23-8). LP-Finch (24-8). LOB-UW 3, UA 2. |
