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March 8, 2012

Weekly Release

SEATTLE - With the first 20 games of the 2012 season being on the road at pre-season tournaments, the No. 4/3 UW softball team will play its home opener on Saturday at 3 p.m. vs. Seattle U. The Huskies are hosting the Husky Softball Classic Saturday and Sunday that features UW, the Redhawks and North Dakota.

Tournament Schedule/Coverage
The Husky Softball Classic begins Saturday at noon as Seattle U takes on North Dakota. That game is followed by Seattle U at Washington at 3 p.m. and then North Dakota vs. Washington at 6 p.m. On Sunday, North Dakota and Seattle U play at 10 a.m., followed by North Dakota and Washington at 1 p.m. and Seattle U and Washington at 4 p.m. Please note that due to tournament play, 30 minutes will be given in between games so games might start later. Games will never start earlier than the assigned time. Live video and stats will be available for free for all games on www.gohuskies.com. Mike Brown will be calling both of the UW games on Sunday and can be heard on www.gohuskies.com.

Scouting Seattle U
The Seattle University Redhawks are 4-7 on the season. They face North Dakota in a doubleheader on Friday before the tournament starts. Last week, they swept a doubleheader with British Columbia, 8-0 and 12-1. They also have wins over Santa Clara and Sacramento State. The Redhawks are coached by Dan Powers in his sixth season. They are led by Karina Smyth at the plate hitting .333. Sarah Petosa has 11 hits and five RBI. In the circle, Jessica Ulrich is 1-3 in 29.2 innings. Richelle Ashburn is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA in 22.1 innings. UW leads the overall series 6-0.

Scouting North Dakota
This will be the first-ever meeting between UW and the North Dakota Sioux. UND will face Seattle U in a doubleheader Friday before the tournament. The Sioux are 6-11 overall, going 1-5 last week at the University of New Mexico Invitational. In Albuquerque, the Sioux with CSU Bakersfield and dropped two games each to New Mexico and Utah. They are led by Caralyn Chewning who is hitting .431 with 25 hits, five doubles and a .655 slugging percentage. Cami Bennett is batting .421 with 24 hits, five doubles and seven RBI. In the circle, Michelle Frank has pitched 51.2 innings, with a 1-7 record, a 5.57 ERA and 35 strikeouts. UND is coached by Eric Oakley in his first season after spending the previous five season as an assistatn at Eastern Michigan.

Coach Tarr Milestones
Head coach Heather Tarr picked up her 200th career victory with a win over San Diego State in 2010 and picked up win No. 250 at the Aztecs' home field over Northwestern in 2011. With a 19-1 record already this season, Coach Tarr has 299 for her career and can pick up 300 with just one win in the five games this weekend.

Pohlman & Williams Selected In NPF Senior Draft
Kimi Pohlman and Nikia Williams became the sixth and seventh players in UW history to be selected in the NPF Senior Draft on March 7. Pohlman became the highest-ever Husky selected with the No. 2 overall pick by the Chicago Bandits. Williams (Mission Viejo, Calif.) was the 16th overall pick and the fourth pick of the fourth round by the USSSA Florida Pride. Both Pohlman and Williams were members of the 2009 UW national championship team and have earned numerous all-conference, all-region and All-American honors. Both players were named to the Top 50 Pre-Season Player of the Watch list twice and to the WCWS All-Tournament team as freshmen in 2009. The senior outfielder, Pohlman has been the leadoff batter the past two years and a starting outfielder for UW all four seasons. She ranks in the top 10 all-time in school history in stolen bases, on base percentage, batting average and hit by pitch. Williams, a utility player for the Huskies, ranks in the top 10 all-time in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and on base percentage. She was also a Lowe's Senior CLASS Award nominee this season. UW's Jenn Salling was the highest-ever player selected from UW before this year, being drafted No. 3 overall by the USSSA Pride last season. Salling along with former Huskies Ashley Charters and Danielle Lawrie all play for the USSSA Florida Pride. Charters was drafted in 2009 by the Rockford Thunder as the 11th overall pick and the first pick of the third round. Aimee Minor was the second pick of the third round in 2006 to Connecticut. Kristen Rivera was the sixth overall pick in the first round to the Texas Thunder in 2005. Tia Bollinger was the 32nd overall pick in the fifth round to the Akron Racers in 2004. The 2012 NPF College Draft was dominated by seven selections from the PAC-12 Conference. Of the seven choices there were two each at the University of Washington, UCLA, and Cal. Arizona State was represented with one selection. The SEC, which dominated the 2011 Draft fell into a not-so-close second place with four players selected. Brittany Mack was the No. 1 overall pick by the Pride out of LSU. Re-broadcast information on the 2012 Draft can be found at www.profastpitch.com. Due to NCAA regulations, an active college senior-athlete is not eligible to sign with her respective franchise until her 2011 season is complete.

New Parking/Gate Information For Home Games
Due to construction at Husky Stadium, fans attending 2012 UW softball games will have a different entrance for the outfield GA seating. Saturday and Sunday of the Husky Softball Classic, fans wishing to sit in the outfield bleachers must purchase tickets at the ticket box office near the main gate and enter through the East Field Entrance out past center field. In the future, the Husky Ticket Office hopes to have tickets for purchase at the new entrance as well. The rate for parking this year during games has also changed. For weekday games the cost is $7 after 5 p.m. Before 5 p.m. the cost in E12 is $15 and $10 in E1. For weekend games, parking will cost $7 in all lots. For more information visit the transportation page.

Become A Husky Fan On Social Media
Fans can follow the Husky softball team on the UW Softball Twitter page by logging on to www.twitter.com/UWSoftball. Head coach Heather Tarr has her own account, follow her at www.twitter.com/CoachTarr. The Huskies can also be found on Facebook via the Washington Softball fan page at www.facebook.com/UWHuskySoftball.

Walker Throws No-Hitter In Louisville Slugger Classic
UW went 5-0 for the third tournament this season, winning its second pre-season tournament, the Louisville Slugger Invitational hosted by Pacific in Stockton, Calif. UW defeated Pacific twice, Sacramento State once and Delaware twice on the way to the championship. In the first-ever game between UW and Delaware, sophomore pitcher Bryana Walker threw her first career no-hitter. Walker allowed just three base runners (a walk, a hit batter and an error) in 5.0 innings. It was the 27th no-hitter in UW history and the first by a pitcher on the current Husky roster. The last UW no-hitter came from Danielle Lawrie who threw an 8-0 no-hitter vs. Stanford on May 7, 2012. It is the first non-conference no-hitter since Lawrie took out Auburn 5-0 on March 11, 2010. Senior Nikia Williams also had a huge weekend, being named one of the top performers of the week by the NFCA after batting .533 with six runs, eight hits, two doubles, a triple, a home run, 10 RBI, a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .611 on base percentage.