Posted on: Friday, May 28, 2004
LSU rallies past Michigan
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Sara Fitzgerald scored on a pair of throwing errors in the bottom of the 13th inning yesterday, giving LSU a 3-2 victory over Michigan in the first round of the NCAA softball tournament.
Associated Press With two outs in the 13th, Fitzgerald singled and moved to second when Camille Harris beat out an infield single to short. Fitzgerald moved to third when shortstop Jessica Merchant's throw got away from first baseman Jennifer Olds. She scored when catcher Monica Schock couldn't handle right fielder Courtney Betley's throw home.
Fitzgerald had stopped at third before Betley made her throw.
Grace Leutele hit a two-run home run in the top of the 12th inning to give Michigan (54-12) a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers (55-10) came back to tie the game on an RBI single by Leigh Ann Danos and a passed ball by Schock.
• UCLA 8, Stanford 2: In the second game, Caitlin Benyi hit a three-run homer during a six-run fourth inning as the Bruins took a 7-2 lead and never looked back in beating the Cardinal. Keira Goerl (28-7), who pitched a no-hitter in the championship game last year, pitched a complete game for UCLA, giving up five hits, including a solo home run by Leah Nelson.
UCLA came out of the losers' bracket to win the NCAA title last season.
• Oklahoma 6, Washington 2: In the third game of the opening round, the first five Sooners reached base — three on singles and two on errors by Washington shortstop Amanda Oleson — as Oklahoma (45-20-1) took a 2-1 lead.
Mariee Mena added a two-run single to give Sooners pitcher Kami Keiter (22-13) all the support she needed.
Oklahoma's Kristin Vesely had a two-run double in the sixth inning.
Dena Tyson and Oleson had RBI singles for the Huskies (40-18), who beat Oklahoma in the first round of the tournament last year.
• California 4, Florida State 2: California came from behind to win the nightcap game on a two-run triple by Jessica Pamanian. The Seminoles (61-11) had taken a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run homer by Jessica van der Linden — one of only two hits allowed by Kristina Thorson (28-3). Van der Linden also singled in the seventh.
The Golden Bears (51-11) closed to 2-1 in the third on consecutive singles by Lindsay James, Haley Woods and Kaleo Eldredge, a 2001 Baldwin High graduate from Kahului, Maui.
Pamanian then hit the first pitch from van der Linden (28-8) to right field, scoring Woods and Eldredge to put Cal ahead for the first time.
Roni Rodrigues added a solo homer for California in the fourth.
The Seminoles (61-11) will play Washington in the losers' bracket of the double-elimination tournament, and Stanford (47-18) will play Michigan.
LSU will play defending champion UCLA, which beat Stanford, 8-2. Oklahoma also advanced, beating Washington, 6-2, and will face California, which beat Florida State, 4-2.
California's Jessica Pamanian slides into Florida State third baseman Kim Hoffer, but managed to reach the base for a two-run triple.
