May 16, 2008

HOUSTON 9, DELAWARE ST. 0
Houston senior Angel Shamblin pitched her second perfect game of the season to guide the Cougars to a 9-0 win over Delaware State in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA Houston Softball Regional at Cougar Softball Stadium.

Houston (51-9), the No. 8 National Seed in the NCAA Championship, moved to 2-1 all-time in regional openers and 4-4 all-time in postseason play. Delaware State falls to 29-24 on the year.

Shamblin struck out 11 batters en route to the third perfect game of her career. She improves to 33-3 on the season with 17 shutouts.

The Cougar offense put up six runs in the second inning. Freshman Baillie Lott scored the first Houston run after reaching base on a walk. Junior Katie Bush hit her fourth double this season, scoring junior Jessica Valis.

Houston capped the inning with a grand slam from senior Amanda Grote to take the 7-0 advantage. The grand slam was Grote's second this season and the third of her career.

UH put up two more runs in the third inning and earned the five-inning win due to the run rule.

The Cougars advance in the winner's bracket to play No. 2 seed Washington at noon. The Huskies (29-23-1) knocked off No. 3 Texas 2-1 in the first game of the Houston regional.

UW's Ashlyn Watson hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh to lead the Huskies past the Longhorns. Pitcher Aleah Macon got the win after pitching four scoreless innings of relief. Starter Caitlin Noble gave up one run on three hits in three innings of work.

Texas (28-22-2) will face Delaware State in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Saturday. UT's Megan Denny pitched the distance in game one, giving up two runs off 10 hits in the loss. The Longhorns Loryn Johnson scored her squad's only run off a solo homerun in the third inning.

The winner of the Washington-Houston contest will advance to play at noon on Sunday. The loser will face the winner of the Texas-Delaware State game at 6 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game.

UCF 3, USF 2
It took a few innings UCF to shake its nerves Friday afternoon, but once it did it was unstoppable, downing USF, 3-2, in the opening round of the NCAA Gainesville Regional at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.

Allison Kime's two-RBI triple in the sixth inning and her six-strikeout performance on the mound sealed the win for the Black and Gold. With the victory, the Knights improved their record to 47-18 on the season and move on to play the winner of Florida vs. Georgia Tech in the NCAA Regional semifinal at 1 p.m. UCF's 47 wins in 2008 tie for the program single-season record set by the 2005 squad during its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Breanne Javier led the Knights at the plate, posting two hits, the game-tying run and knocking in the Knights' first run of the game with a RBI single in the fourth inning. With her second single of the game in the sixth inning, Javier tied Stephanie Best's program-record for hits in a season with 83, needing one more hit in the tournament to secure the top spot. The top-five batters in the UCF lineup accounted for all of its offense in the game, scattering five hits, scoring three runs and posting three RBI and a walk.

In the circle, Kime held the Bulls to only two runs on five hits, picking up her 32nd win of the season. The senior hurler needs one more strikeout to reach No. 350 on the season.

Neither team could produce much offence through the first two innings, but the Bulls ended the game's scoreless streak in the bottom of the third after JoJo Medina hit a two-run home run over the left centerfield fence. Kit Dunbar reached base earlier in the inning with a single up the middle, before Aya Nakajima traded places with the right fielder on a fielder's choice to the shortstop, setting up Medina's home run.

A RBI single in the fourth inning by Javier cut USF's lead in half, scoring Lane who reached earlier on a walk issued by USF starter Courtney Mosch. Following Lane's lead-off walk, the freshman stole second base before being moved to third on an infield single by Council. The redshirt junior stole the Knights' second base of the inning prior to Javier's RBI. A fielder's choice off the bat of Hillary Barrow loaded up the bases, with all base runners advancing safely on the play, but a line-drive shot to the Bulls' shortstop from Kime set up a double play and ended the Knights' scoring threat.

Kime redeemed herself with a two-out triple past the left fielder to give the Knights their first lead of the game. The two-run shot brought both Javier and Barrow around to score, making the score 3-2 following the top-half of the sixth inning. Lane led off the inning again with a single through the right side of the infield and moved to second on a single through the opposite side of the infield by Javier. A fielder's choice pegged Lane out at home, but Kime's knock to left field gave UCF all the runs it needed to take the win from the Bulls.

UCF continues its run toward the Women's College World Series Saturday at 1 p.m. at the NCAA Gainesville Regional.

ARKANSAS 7, TULSA 5
Arkansas' Brittany Robison sent her fifth home run of the season over the leftfield fence to give the University of Arkansas an early 3-0 lead. The Lady'Backs never looked back in route to a 7-5 victory in the opening game of the Norman NCAA Regional. Arkansas (37-27) will face the winner of the nightcap between Oregon and Oklahoma on Saturday. Tulsa (34-24) will play the loser of Friday night's final game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

After a scoreless first inning by both teams, UA got the first hit of the game in the bottom of the second inning. A one-out walk by Dayna Huckabee was followed by a single from Samantha Buckner. With a pair of baserunners, Robinson took a 2-2 pitch out for the 3-0 score.

Arkansas led off the bottom of the third inning with a double by Miranda Dixon. After a sacrifice by Sandra Smith, UA was threatening again. However freshman Jordan Kinard was able to get out of the jam without allowing another run. Kinard would retire eight of the next nine batters, with the only baserunner coming off a fielding error.

Tulsa got its first hit in the top of the fourth when sophomore Lauren Lindsay led off the fram with a single up the middle. After a ground out, senior Sara Dyer hit her fifth home run of the season to cut the UA lead to 3-2. It was Dyer's 21st career home run for the Golden Hurricane, tying her with Lindsay for second on the TU all-time chart.

The Hurricane took its first lead in the top of the fifth inning. Back-to-back singles by senior Lindsey Tower and junior Stephanie Chomicki gave TU a pair of baserunners. Lindsay then recorded her 15th home run of the season to give TU a 5-3 advantage. The long ball tied the school record for home runs in a season for Lindsay. Former TU slugger Katie Torres recorded 15 home runs during the 2004 campaign.

A leadoff home run by Whitney Cloer in the bottom of the sixth inning cut the Hurricane lead to 5-4. Two singles sandwiched around a walk scored another run for the `Hogs. Arkansas would load the bases with a one out walk. Kayla Johnson's flare bounced right in front of TU's leftfielder and allowed two more UA runners to score for a 7-5 Lady'Back lead.

LA-LAFAYETTE 2, EAST CAROLINA 1
East Carolina took an early lead in its 2008 NCAA Tournament opener against No. 16 UL-Lafayette, but could not hold off the Ragin Cajuns as it fell 2-1 in the opening game of the Baton Rouge Regional inside Tiger Park. The Pirates fall to 36-29 on the season while UL-Lafayette improves to 47-12. The Ragin Cajuns move on to the winners bracket to face the winner of Friday's second contest between No. 9 national seed LSU and Mississippi Valley State.

After Charina Sumner grounded out to lead off the game, Christina Merrida struck out swinging but reached first safely due to a wild pitch by Cajuns starter Donna Bourgeois. The next batter, Vanessa Moreno, then grounded out, allowing Merrida to advance to second. Stacey Andrews would come through an at bat later as she poked a single through the left side that scored Merrida, giving ECU a 1-0 advantage.

UL-Lafayette responded in the bottom half of the first. Vallie Gaspard led off the half-inning with a bunt single before Karli Hubbard grounded out to third. Vanessa Soto tied the game on the next at bat, lacing a single through the middle that scored Gaspard from second.

The Ragin Cajuns threatened in the bottom of the third as they put runners on first and second with outs. However, Pirate hurler Brooke Swann induced a flyout from Lana Bowers to get out of the jam. East Carolina showed a flash of its solid defense in the bottom of the fourth when it recorded a strikeout-throw out double play, capped off with a nice throw from Moreno to Paige Baggett that caught Brooke Broadhead stealing second.

A rare error by the Pirates proved costly in the bottom of the fifth. Gaspard led off the inning by hitting a ground ball to Swann but her throw went awry, allowing Gaspard to sit at first safely. After Hubbard grounded out to short, Soto came through again, singling through the middle to score the winning run and close the scoring at 2-1. The Pirates had a chance to tie the game in the top of the sixth as Sumner reached first via an error on the second baseman. However, she would only reach third as two groundouts ended the ECU threat.

Swann took the tough loss but threw her 29th complete game of the season in her 52nd appearance. Her record drops to 24-20 as she gave up just one earned run on seven hits while striking out two.

The Pirates return to action at the Baton Rouge Regional tomorrow as they face the loser of Friday's second game between the Tigers and the Delta Devilettes at 5 p.m. ET inside Tiger Park.