Huskies respond to shutout with run-rule win over California

May 11, 2009, 12:00 AM

Shut out by California with only one game left in the season, the Washington softball team needed to regroup Saturday - if for no other reason than to prove, postseason looming, that they could. Eleven runs and a mercy-rule victory later, the Huskies had done exactly what they needed to before heading to the NCAA regionals later this week. No. 4 UW knocked off No. 12 California 11-3 in five innings Saturday in front of 1,125 at Husky Softball Stadium, taking the season series from the Bears. The win also ended the regular-season home careers of the UW's seven seniors and was more important in its process than it was in its result. "Right place, right time," said UW head coach Heather Tarr. "Hitters getting hot at the right time, understanding what they need to do in their roles. That's the key thing to have happen right now." A six-run first inning quelled any worries that maybe the Huskies were about to go into another offensive lull at the most inopportune time of the season. Jenn Salling reached on an error that drove in Ashley Charters from third base. Danielle Lawrie singled in Salling after an illegal pitch. Morgan Stuart singled. Alicia Blake doubled. They executed, scoring runs on sacrifice flies and taking advantage of errors and wild pitches. They took extra bases when the opportunity presented itself. Back-to-back home runs by Stuart and Ashlyn Watson in the second inning opened the lead to 8-0, then an RBI fielder's choice, an error and a sharp double by Salling in the third pushed the lead to 11-0. Lawrie, who again pitched every inning of the weekend, made her only mistake in the fourth inning when Elia Reid parked a pitch that Lawrie left up in the strike zone over the left-center field wall. It was one of two hits California managed. Lawrie struck out 10 and walked three in the victory, running her season record to 32-6. There have been times this season when a three-run homer would have cost the Huskies the game, but because they found their bats on this day, it was nothing more than a minor blip during what was otherwise a stellar performance. "We really wanted to have a great game today -- for the seniors especially," Stuart said. "But even for our team to get shut out like that and come back and know that we can just turn it on when we need to, that is very important for this team." The Huskies (41-10, 14-7) finish the season tied with Stanford for second place in the Pac-10 standings. They finished their conference slate by winning six out of their last seven, taking advantage of a seven-game homestand to end the season after dropping four of six midway through the year. "I'm really happy with how our team responded today," Tarr said. "We came out ready to go and played hard." Reach sports editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

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