Offense on display during record-setting World Series

Jun 3, 2009, 12:00 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY - Heather Tarr has never been one to overreact to a midseason slump because, well, you don't win championships in March. And by the time her Washington softball team won its first national championship in program history last night, that philosophy had been proven accurate in the biggest of ways. "I think we just kept getting better and better throughout the postseason," Tarr said. "And by the time this game came, we were peaking. ... Our batting averages might not be the best, but we train all year for this; we train all year to be where we need to be when we need to be there." It's kind of a hard philosophy to argue with now, isn't it? Tarr's team set the Women's College World Series (WCWS) ablaze with its postseason explosion, sitting atop the leaders in team batting average (.304), runs (32), hits (52), doubles (8) and walks (22). Ashley Charters and Morgan Stuart tied for the tournament lead with 10 hits each, with Kimi Pohlman and Jenn Salling right behind with nine and seven, respectively. Stuart also led the tournament with four doubles, Niki Williams set a WCWS record with 10 RBI, including a single-game record of seven RBI in the UW's only loss. She also hit three home runs to lead the tournament, more than doubling her season total of two. All three came against Georgia, including a grand slam and a three-run shot in the same game. For a team that had been shut out in eight of its 12 losses this season - including two by both Stanford and UCLA - this offensive explosion may have come as a bit of a surprise to a lot of people. But it was the Pac-10 that sharpened the Huskies, Tarr said. "Those challenges help you for this type of play," she said. "Thank goodness we play in the Pac-10." It wasn't just Washington that took its hacks at opposing pitchers this weekend. The eight participants of the world series combined to set a new WCWS record with 120 runs scored - an average of eight per game - shattering the old mark of 95. The previous record average was 6.8. Reach sports editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

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