The Associated Press Julie Hoshizaki,
left, is congratulated by teammate Monique Mejia
after scoring on a two-run single by Courtney Dale at the NCAA
Region II Softball Championship May 20. UCLA 2
Iowa 0
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Reporter
OKLAHOMA CITY ““ With some late-inning heroics in a 2-0
victory against Iowa, UCLA softball ace Amanda Freed proved she is
100 percent back and freshman slugger Claire Sua showed she has
arrived.
From the very start of the Bruins’ opener in the 2001
Women’s College World Series, things looked bleak for the
hitters. Hawkeye lead-off batter and shortstop Kristin Johnson took
a called strike before meekly grounding out to second. The next
hitter grounded out to third, and the final batter struck out
swinging on a 3-2 pitch.
“I felt Amanda Freed did a great job tonight in the
circle, and I think that set the tone for us,” said UCLA Head
Coach Sue Enquist.
The next six Iowa batters came up empty as well in an opening
day at Oklahoma City that saw none of the eight teams in action
score before the fourth inning.
After three innings, Freed (20-3) had a perfect game. Her
counterpart, Iowa’s Kristi Hanks (39-9), had a no-hitter of
her own. Hanks’ only blemish at the time, a walk to Sua, was
erased when Sua was caught stealing.
Freed, still sporting the bandage on her right forearm to
prevent the same injury that kept her out for more than a month
from getting worse, was tagged for the game’s first hit when
Johnson avenged her earlier failure with an infield hit off the
glove of UCLA second baseman Monique Mejia.
After nothing materialized for the Hawkeyes from Johnson’s
single, the Bruins mounted a strong, two-out rally in the bottom of
the fourth. Sophomore first baseman Tairia Mims broke Hanks’
no-hitter when she shot a double into the gap in left-center and
junior catcher Stacey Nuveman was promptly walked.
Nothing emerged, though, as Sua worked a 3-1 count in her favor
before striking out on a 3-2 pitch, stranding Mims and Nuveman.
Leading off the top of the fifth, Iowa second baseman Christina
Schmaltz ripped a double over UCLA senior right fielder Courtney
Dale, but Freed was at her best when she managed to get out of the
jam, stranding the runner at second base.
“I haven’t been in a whole lot the last month or
so,” Freed said. “But the World Series is the time when
you go out there without any excuses and pitch like you’re
100 percent.”
Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, the Bruins broke through. A
one-out double by freshman outfielder Stephanie Ramos and the
subsequent single by Mims put runners in the corners. Nuveman was
then walked for the second consecutive at-bat, giving Sua an
opportunity for redemption. With the bases loaded, the freshman
delivered by knocking an outside pitch just past the reach of the
second baseman, driving in the only two runs of the game.
“I was just trying to go up there and get a base
hit,” Sua said. “That’s all we needed with the
bases loaded and one out.”
A two-out single by Iowa in the top of the seventh gave the
Hawkeyes some short-lived hope, but Freed slammed the door on the
next Iowa hitter. Freed, along with Sua, certainly got the
attention of the other teams in Oklahoma City.
“¢bull;Â “¢bull;Â “¢bull;
In other WCWS action, top-seeded Arizona defeated California
3-2, defending champ Oklahoma defeated Michigan 2-0 and Stanford
defeated LSU 2-1 in eight innings.
UCLA’s next game is today against Stanford at 6:30 p.m
PST. Arizona and Oklahoma will face off before at 4 p.m.
Four games in the loser’s bracket will take place on
Saturday, with elimination games between Cal-Michigan and
LSU-Iowa.