C-USA In Thursday's NCAA Softball Championship

Michelle Vasquez

All five C-USA teams were in action in the NCAA Softball Championship on Thursday. In its first-ever NCAA contest, Louisville defeated Missouri, 1-0 in eight innings. USF posted a 2-0 shutout victory over Ohio State. DePaul dropped a slugfest to midwest rival Notre Dame, 8-6, while Houston lost its first-ever NCAA Tournament game to Seton Hall. Southern Miss also was defeated, falling to Pacific.


Louisville 1, Missouri 0
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, senior Shannon Nord delivered a double to deep right field and scored on sophomore Michelle Vasquez' RBI single as the University of Louisville softball team clinched a 1-0 win in the Cardinals' first NCAA regional appearance Thursday in NCAA Region 2 action hosted by UCLA. Junior Aja Sherman's eight-inning two-hitter helped Cards break a five-game losing streak and notch a program-best 41-17 record.

The Tigers' best scoring opportunity came in the top of the eighth when Kendra Power singled and stole second and Leanne Bowers reached on the first walk issued to the Tigers in the contest. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Sarah Stringer drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Sherman got the next Missouri batter to fly out to end the inning.

Offensively, U of L had five hits in the game. Nord was 2-for-3 with a double, a run and a stolen base. Sherman (16-6) tossed her eighth complete game shutout, scattering two hits and striking out seven in eight innings.

Missouri's Erica Peterson (3-3) took the loss, allowing one earned run on four hits and sriking out three in 2.2 innings. The Tigers fall to 29-25 on the season.

"We are pleased to get our first game in the NCAA regionals, especially since it's our first time here," said Louisville head coach Sandy Pearsall. "We've been struggling as of late to score runs and win those games in extra innings, so this was a big boost for us in our confidence. I think we're finally loosening up our team which has been playing extremely tight the last five or six games now. It goes a long way for us just to have made it here. Obviously, getting the first win is a big bonus and something that's going to help us not only through this regional, but in the future."

Louisville will play the winner of the region's top seed and fourth-ranked UCLA and No. 8 seed Mississippi Valley State Friday at 5:30 p.m. (EDT).


USF 2, Ohio State 0
The USF softball team picked up its record-setting 58th win Thursday morning as the Bulls downed the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first game of the NCAA Regional in Tallahassee, Fla. Senior pitcher Leigh Ann Ellis picked up her 41st win of the season after pitching a complete game one-hitter.

There were just three hits total through the first five innings of the game, but Ohio State threatened in the fourth inning. After a leadoff walk by left fielder Megan Schwab, two straight USF errors loaded the bases for the Buckeyes, but with three straight outs, including two strikeouts, Ohio State didn't capitalize.

In the USF sixth, however, two Buckeye errors contributed to a two-run inning for the Bulls. Left fielder Shelly Riker reached base on an error and advanced to third. She scored on a sacrifice fly by Carmela Liwag, who also reached base on an error. With one out, right fielder Holly Groves singled to left center. She went on to score on a double by center fielder Tiffany Stewart.

USF will take the field again at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow against Oregon.


Notre Dame 8, DePaul 6
The DePaul University softball team out hit Notre Dame, 10-9, but was unable to pull out the win, falling to the Irish, 8-6, in the opening round of the NCAA Regional in Ann Arbor. DePaul falls to 29-30-1 on the season while Notre Dame improves to 49-18 overall. The Blue Demons play the loser of the No. 1 Michigan-No. 8 Cansisus game on Friday at 10:00 a.m.

The Blue Demons started the second with two infield hits, but were unable to capitalize as they left runners on second and third. With one out, Dana Kenny hit into what looked liked a double play and both teams changed positions on the field, however after further umpire review the Blue Demons were called back to the dugout. Sarah Polensky came up to bat, but struck out to end the inning.

The Irish posted six runs and batted around the order in the bottom of the second. Notre Dame capitalized on four hits and two DePaul errors. Tracie Adix came in for relief for DePaul starter Sarah Martz with one out and a runner on second. Martz gave up six runs (four earned) and four hits. Sarah Bandauski caught a line drive off the bat of Mallorie Lenn and stepped on second to end the Irish second.

Notre Dame added one in the fourth increasing its lead to 7-0. Lenn connected on a single to score Stephanie Brown from second.

Saskia Roberson connected on her first grand slam of the season and her 12th home run of the year to pull the Blue Demons to within three in the top of the fifth. Adix led off the inning, connecting on her first collegiate hit with a double to left field. Polensky followed with a walk and Lachenberg came into pinch run. Secka reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced on Martz walk. All three scored on Roberson’s home run.

Sarah Douglas led off the top of the sixth with a base hit to center and Jenny Doezie followed that with a single to left field. However, the Blue Demons would leave one stranded as Polensky’s blooper to left field was caught and Bandauski was called out on the play.

Notre Dame extended its lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Megan Ciolli scored on a double by Lenn.

Katie Sheaks pinch hit for Ashley Parker and reached on a single to left field to start the seventh. Linda Secka extended her hitting streak to 11 games with a blooper to left field and Martz’s infield single brought Roberson to the plate with the bases loaded. She hit into a fielders choice that scored Parker from third with Martz getting forced out on the play. Secka scored on a sacrifice fly by Christina Douglas. Sarah Douglas grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.


Seton Hall 4, Houston 2
The University of Houston softball team's first ever game in the NCAA Tournament proved to be a tough one Thursday afternoon, as they dropped a 4-2 decision to the Seton Hall Pirates at Getterman Stadium on the campus of Baylor University.

Through the first three innings of play, the Cougars and the Pirates offenses were held in check by the pitching of Houston's Crystal Briscoe and Seton Hall's Megan Meyer. In the bottom of the fourth however, the Pirates cracked a 0-0 tie with two runs on three hits.

McKenzie Richards picked up the first hit of the game with a single to left field and scored the first run of the game on a double off the left field wall by Laura Taylor, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Seton Hall added another run in the fourth when Mary Carroll Smith double to center field, chasing in Tracy Myhren who had pinch ran for Taylor.

The Pirates added to more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, taking advantage of two errors by Cougar first baseman Jenilee Skender, who was unable to find the bag on two different occasions. With runners at first and third, Seton Hall perfectly executed a double steal to take a 3-0 lead and added another run on an RBI single by D'arcy Djakalovic.

The Cougars picked up their first hit of the game in the sixth inning when Jaci Gonzalez led off the inning with a single to left field. Pinch hitter Brandi Clark then singled to left giving the Cougars traffic on the base paths for the first time all game. After back to back strikeouts by Kim Nesloney and Jamie Adams, Kristen Glowacz smacked a triple to right field, putting Houston within two at 4-2.

Glowacz hit however was the last the Cougars could muster, falling 4-2. Houston will be in action again Friday morning at 10 a.m. when they will take on the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders, who fell to top seeded LSU.

Pacific 10, Southern Miss 2
Fourth-seeded Pacific scored four runs in both the first and third innings to take the eventual 10-2 victory over No. 5 Southern Miss in Thursday's opening day action of the 2004 NCAA Softball Region 7 Tournament here at Stanford University's Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium.

The Tigers (35-21) scored 10 runs on 13 hits and made two errors in the run-rule, six-inning win, while the Lady Eagles (32-25) managed just two runs on six hits in the game.

Pacific now advances in the winner's bracket of the tournament, facing the winner of the No. 1 Stanford-No. 8 Utah game Friday at 3 p.m. Southern Miss takes on the loser of that contest in an elimination game at 10 a.m., Friday.

"We just never got into a rhythm today," Southern Miss Head Coach Gay McNutt said. "We have an extremely young team, and when you can't score, you are not going to win. This team will bounce back tomorrow, and we will be just fine."

Jennifer Dacre (15-11) earned the complete-game victory, allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Lady Eagle starter Jessica Holaway (17-7) took the loss, giving up eight runs, seven earned, on 10 hits with two walks and one strikeout in 2.0 innings. Jessica Saunier also pitched in the game, allowing two runs on three hits with four walks and one strikeout in 3.1 innings.

The Tigers opened with four runs in the bottom of the first on four hits, including RBI singles by Brandi Gordon, Crystal Presson and Nicole Inouye.

Southern Miss scored countered with a single run in the top of the second, courtesy of Auriel Jenkins' solo home run to left center field.

But Pacific built up its lead once more with four runs in the bottom of the third, two of which came on a single by Jennifer Harrell.

The Lady Eagles added their final run in the top of the fifth, when Ashley Brenan scored on Jenkins' fielder's choice.

Presson paced the Tigers with three hits and two runs scored, while Michelle Anunciation, Jennifer Curtier and Inouye each added a pair of hits.

Sue Logan led Southern Miss with two hits, while Jenkins had a team-best two RBIs.

Friday's Southern Miss game will be broadcast on WUSM-FM 88.5 in Hattiesburg, Miss., with Jason Baker handling the play-by-play duties. The broadcast also can be accessed by logging on to SouthernMiss.com and clicking on the "Lady Eagle Softball Audio" link on the main page of the site.