UW outlasts UMass for regional title

May 18, 2009, 12:00 AM

They played deep into the night and well into Monday morning on the East Coast, requiring 15 innings to settle a regional championship game that had started when it was still Sunday. Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie and Massachusetts ace Brandice Balschmiter dueled in the circle for more than five hours last night in Amherst, Mass., tossing a combined 494 pitches before Balschmiter finally wilted in the top of the 15th inning and allowed the UW softball team to claim an exhausting 6-1 win to advance to next weekend's super regionals against No. 14 Georgia Tech. "We knew we had our hands full when we were sent to UMass to face that pitcher," said UW head coach Heather Tarr. "She's a good pitcher statistically. She's beat some good teams. She's tough, but she's not tougher than Danielle." And had it not been for one of the gutsiest efforts of Lawrie's career, the Huskies could have been boarding a plane for Seattle today. Tarr said Lawrie came back to the dugout after the ninth inning with tears in her eyes, fighting back the emotion of battling a top-notch team with the season on the line. "When she came off, she was just like, 'Let's go,' regained her composure and just got better and better from that ninth inning on," Tarr said. "She got that fire in her eyes." She had help, however. UW outfielder Amanda Fleischman, celebrating her 21st birthday, robbed Sarah Reeves of what would have been a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, prolonging the game and the UW's season by getting back to the wall just in time to snag the deep line drive. "That," Tarr said, "saved our game. That was the difference between continuing and going home. I thought it was gone." The No. 3 Huskies had their chances all night. Jenn Salling was thrown out at the plate in the top of the ninth inning. Kimi Pohlman was gunned down at home in the top of the 11th, then subsequently ejected after running over UMass catcher Jessica Serio. Lawrie had to work her way out of trouble more than once. She watched as Samantha Salato, who homered in the fourth to give UMass its only run, pulled a long fly-ball foul down the left field line with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the 11th. But Lawrie came back to strike her out, then fanned the next batter to quell the rally. Lawrie, who didn't have her best stuff during the weekend, struck out 23 in the 15-inning marathon and threw 395 pitches total during the Huskies' two games yesterday. The Huskies had a chance to win the regional title earlier in the day, but lost to UMass 5-1 to force a decisive second game in the double-elimination tournament. The UW was the only team without a loss heading into Sunday, mercy-ruling Sacred Heart 9-1 Friday before topping UMass 3-1 on Saturday. Washington was finally able to break through against Balschmiter with five runs in the top of the 15th yesterday, using a bases-loaded infield single by Salling to break a 1-1 tie. Lawrie then singled to drive in two more, and a base hit by Morgan Stuart knocked in another two runs to put the icing on what was the Huskies' longest and most nerve-wracking win of the season. Understandably euphoric, Tarr searched for the right words to describe the emotions brought by her team's epic extra-inning conquest. "We're just on a high right now," Tarr said. They'll rely on that high to carry them into Atlanta for the next round of the postseason. Reach sports editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

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