Posted at 3:51 p.m., Wednesday, May 10, 2006
UH in good position after beating Nevada in softball
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
The winner of the double-elimination tournament at Fresno State's Bulldog Diamond earns the WAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals.
The Rainbow Wahine will face No. 6 seed Louisiana Tech in Thursday's opening round and, if they win, play No. 2 San Jose State that afternoon.
By defeating Nevada Wednesday, the Rainbows avoided a showdown against No. 1 Fresno State in the first two rounds.
The UH-Nevada game originally was played April 29 in Reno, Nev. The Rainbows appeared to win, 4-2, in nine innings, but the outcome was overturned after the NCAA ruled that a Nevada player should have been allowed to re-enter the lineup. The game reverted to the bottom of the fourth inning, with Nevada ahead 2-1, and was moved to Fresno as a preliminary to the WAC tournament.
Clare Warwick hit a two-run double in the Rainbows' five-run fifth.
Justine Smethurst faced 10 batters Wednesday, allowing one hit and striking out four.
"It was good to play on the Fresno field again," Smethurst said. "It's going to help us get ready for the tournament."
