March 14, 2012
Weekly Release 
SEATTLE - Just like spring break of 2011, the UW softball team will play seven games in five days, beginning at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., on Thursday and then heading north to Bakersfield to play a doubleheader with the Roadrunners on Monday.
Tournament Schedule/Coverage
The final preseason tournament of the year for the UW is always the Judi Garman Classic, hosted by Cal State Fullerton. UW will start tourney play on Thursday at 11 a.m. vs. UC Davis and then take on Iowa at 3:30 p.m. On Friday, UW will play Notre Dame and No. 24/25 DePaul. Tournament play wraps up on Saturday for UW vs. No. 7/7 Oklahoma. Please note that due to tournament play, 30 minutes will be given in between games so games might start later then the assigned time. Games will never start earlier then the assigned time. Live audio and stats will be available for free for all games on www.gohuskies.com. Alyssa Olveda will be calling all of the UW games live.
Scouting UC Davis
The Aggies are 9-17 on the season and 3-8 in neutral-site games. Last week, the Aggies went 3-2 with wins over Idaho State and Sacramento State. Earlier in the year they upset then-No. 8 No. 8 Stanford, 2-1. UW and UC Davis already played once this year, on Feb. 19 in San Diego. UW won the contest 11-3. The first-ever meeting between UW and the Aggies was in 2010 and UW won, 9-1. They are led by Megan Guzman, batting .319. Rachel Miller has a team-high three home runs and 14 RBI. Justine Vela is 7-8 in the circle with a 3.25 ERA in 97.0 innings with 122 strikeouts. Jessica Thweatt pitched in the first meeting vs. UW and is 2-7 on the year with 56 strikeouts in 61.2 innings.
Scouting Iowa
Marla Looper is the head coach in her second season at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 9-9 overall and 9-5 in neutral games. Iowa didn't compete last week but the first week of March were 1-3 against No. 23 Oklahoma State and No. 8 Oklahoma, taking one game from the Cowgirls. UW is 7-1 all-time against Iowa, losing the first-ever meeting in 1993 and winning the next six. The last meeting was in 2005. Megan Blank leads the team, batting .392 with seven doubles and nine walks. Katie Keim has a .383 average with three home runs, 18 RBI and five stolen bases. Kayla Massey and Chelsea Lyon have split time in the circle. Massey is 4-5 with a 1.67 ERA in 63.0 innings and Lyon is 5-4 with a 2.98 ERA in 51.2 innings.
Scouting Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish are 8-8 overall and 6-6 in neutral-site games. UW leads the series 3-1 and won the last meeting in 2010. The Irish have two ranked wins this year over No. 24 North Carolina. Last week they defeated Oregon State and lost to Charleston Southern and UNLV. Laura Winer is 4-5 in the circle with a 2.26 ERA in 65.0 innings. Alexa Maldonado is hitting .370 with 11 runs, 20 hits, five doubles and four home runs. Amy Buntin is also batting .370 with 13 RBI.
Scouting No. 24/25 DePaul
DePaul will be the first ranked team UW will face since taking on Nebraska in Cathedral City. UW is 7-1 against teams ranked or receiving votes this year. UW leads the series 10-3 but has lost the last two meetings against the Blue Demons. DePaul is 14-5 and No. 24/25 in the polls this week. Kirsten Verdun has pitched the most innings, 58.2 with a 7-3 record and a 1.91 ERA. Hannah Penna is 3-1 and Bree Brown is 4-0. At the plate, Samantha Dodd is batting .441 with 26 hits. Verdun has three home runs and 16 RBI.
Scouting No. 7/7 Oklahoma
No. 7/7 Oklahoma has an 11-game winning streak. The Sooners are 20-3 overall. Keilani Ricketts is 10-3 in the circle with a 0.96 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 87.1 innings. Jessica Shults is batting .464 with four doubles, five home runs and 24 RBI. UW barely leads the series 9-8, falling to the Sooners last season.
Scouting Cal State Bakersfield
After the Judi Garman Classic, the Huskies will play a doubleheader Mondaty at Cal State Bakersfield, beginning at noon. Crissy Buck is in her first season as head coach. The Runners are 6-13 overall and 1-1 at home. Sarah Hoag is 3-10 on the year with a 4.92 ERA in 64.0 innings. Laura King is batting .441 with 12 runs, 30 hits, two doubles and seven RBI. On Tuesday, CSU Bakersfield dropped a doubleheader to UConn. UW is 2-0 all-time against the Runners.
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. In the first game of the Husky Softball Classic this season with a win over SeattleU, Tarr picked up her 300th career victory.
Fagaly Has Huge Weekend In Husky Softball Classic
UW won its home-opening tournament, going 4-0 against Seattle U and North Dakota. Sophomore Hooch Fagaly had her biggest weekend after coming back from tearing her ACL last season. She hit over .700, led the team in RBI and hit her first home run of the season.
