Swamped: Huskies chomp Gators in championship series opener

Jun 2, 2009, 12:00 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY - Doubt surrounded UW pitcher Danielle Lawrie, who surely didn't have enough left in the tank to beat the No. 1 Florida Gators yesterday at the Women's College World Series. Georgia teed off on her Sunday. She looked tired. It was hot. And the general consensus was that maybe the championship round was where the magic would run out for the Washington softball team this season. It didn't. One day after the UW's chances of even making it to this stage seemed in serious question, the Huskies looked every bit the part of the best team in the country with a resounding 8-0 win over Florida in Game 1 of the WCWS championship series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The UW could claim its first title in program history with a win today in the best-of-three series, after Lawrie subdued the Gators with a two-hit shutout yesterday. "I don't really look at how [Sunday] went," Lawrie said. "I'm just so proud of our team and how we responded, and how we just kind of grouped together. I'm not selfish, and I don't look at how my performances are. I just look at how we are as a team and how we just treated each inning like it's so precious." In a battle of two of the nation's best pitchers, this one wasn't even close. Florida had no answers for Lawrie, as the Gators couldn't move a single runner past second base and struck out 12 times against the UW ace, just one day after she had allowed nine runs to Georgia in one game and looked as if an entire postseason's worth of wear on her arm was finally starting to catch up to her. It hadn't. "She did a really good job working with her catcher and taking advantage of the strikes she was getting and the balls she wasn't getting," said Florida third baseman Corrie Brooks, who had one of Florida's two hits. "She really worked the corners really well and kept us off balance. I really think we took way too many pitches. We didn't fight a whole lot, and we're definitely going to have to come out tomorrow and be ready to swing and be ready to get on that first strike we see." Florida pitcher Stacey Nelson didn't live up to her All-American billing, and her defense didn't help. The Huskies scored their first four runs on one play, when a bases-loaded, two-RBI single by Jenn Salling turned into a back-breaker after UF catcher Kristina Hilberth threw the ball into center field trying to catch Salling, who was trying to advance to second on a throw to the plate. Everyone scored as the ball sailed over even the center fielder's head and all the way to the fence. Florida looked lifeless after that. "It was just uncharacteristic for us," Nelson said. "It was kind of a 'What's happening?' moment. We kind of had to dig in and find our identity. That's just not the way we play normally, so it kind of stunned us." Morgan Stuart added a two-RBI double in the fifth, then Ashley Charters, who went 3-for-3, poked a two-run shot over the right-center field fence in the sixth to turn the game into a blowout. It was so one-sided that both teams even lined up to shake hands after the bottom of the sixth, unaware that no eight-run mercy-rule exists in the championship series. They may as well have ended it after the third. "Great players make great things happen, and I think we have a good group of very talented athletes that can kind of take a season and get better every single pitch they see," said UW head coach Heather Tarr. "I know that we're battle-tested. I think they understand that the season is there to test them. ... What's important is that we peak at the right time, and that we get the hits when you need them." One more win is all they need now. Reach sports editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

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