LSU batters UH in softball opener

By Tom Buckley
Special to The Advertiser

AUSTIN, Texas — They brought their own bottled water to the Mainland, but the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine couldn't bottle up the LSU bats in the opening game of the NCAA Softball Regional.

Alicia Owen and Blair Smith each smacked a pair of home runs and Megann Steege added a two-run shot as the fourth-seeded Tigers defeated the fifth-seeded Rainbow Wahine, 9-4, while setting an NCAA tournament record for homers in a game with five.

"We've had two weeks off since our last game," Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said, "and our pitchers weren't really on." The time change couldn't have helped either. The game started at 9 a.m., 4 in the morning Hawai'i time.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Smith connected on her first home run, a drive over the left-centerfield fence that followed a sensational leaping catch in center by Marie Jackson. LSU then added five more runs for a 6-0 lead in the fourth – all charged to Melissa Coogan – on a two-run blast by Owen and a two-out, three-run clout by Smith.

The Rainbows, who out-hit the Tigers 9-7, battled back in the top of the fifth, plating four runs on a two-run single by Denise Dahlberg and a two-run double by Stacey Porter, who batted 3-for-3.

"After we were down 6-0, Coach Coolen got us revved up," Porter said. But LSU reversed the momentum in the bottom of the frame when Owen connected on a two-out solo shot. "We'd battled back to 6-4," Porter said, "and that was pretty demoralizing." Steege's two-run homer in the sixth off reliever Shannon Tabion closed out the scoring, as Tiger starter Kristin Schmidt held the Bows scoreless for the final two frames.

Hawaii now plays Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the loser's bracket tonight at 3 p.m. Hawai'i time. Coolen is confident his team will be ready. "I'm letting the players go back to the hotel and get some sleep," the coach said, "so we can focus more and play our game. This game was out of character for us."