#20 Washington Downs Upstate in Tuscaloosa Regional Opener

Friday, May 15

Tuscaloosa, Ala. - NCAA Tournament

1:30 pm

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

43-9

Washington

41-15

USC Upstate

Washington

5/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – No. 20 Washington held USC Upstate's potent offense to two hits and the Huskies claimed a 4-1 victory in the opening game of the Tuscaloosa Regional Friday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium at the University of Alabama.

Upstate (43-9) will play in the first elimination game of the regional Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. Eastern, 1:30 p.m. Central against Fairfiled. The winner of that game will face the loser of the game between 5th-ranked Alabama and 20th-ranked Washington (played at 11 a.m.) at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Central.

Washington starter Kasey Stanchek did not allow an Upstate hit until the fifth inning and allowed just two the entire game while striking out five in the win. She improved to 14-7 after holding a Spartan offense that entered the regional ranked fifth in the nation in batting average and fourth in home runs and slugging percentage.

"I thought we would hit a little better than we did. We are a good hitting team that got two hits. We have to go back offensively and revamp what we are doing and change our focus a little bit. We should have made a better effort offensively. We have some games to play and I feel good about us playing as many as we possibly can to get back and have a shot at winning this still."

After Upstate was retired in order in the top of the first, Washington struck first in the bottom of the frame. Back-to-back singles and an error on the second single put runners at second and third with no outs. After Spartan starter Lexi Shubert got a strikeout, Kylee Lahners scored on a wild pitch to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Shubert, though, got a line out and a fly out to get out of the inning without any further damage.

Upstate responded in the second and used an illegal pitch by Stanchek for the rally. Karla Beasley led off the inning with a four-pitch walk and pinch runner Kendsey Chappelear stole second. After a strikeout, Dana Landers drew a walk. Cheyenne Griffin laid down a squeeze bunt and Chappelear slid under the tag at home to tie the game at 1-1.

Washington moved back on top in the bottom of the third when Taylor Van Zee hit a one-out solo home run to right center to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead. At two-out single by Kimberlee Souza drove in another run as Washington opened a 3-1 advantage. The Upstate deficit could have been worse, but Hayley Reinfeld made a catch while colliding with the wall in left to record the third out of the inning for the Spartans.

Washington put runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, but Shubert pitched out of the jam by inducing a pop fly to short and a fly out to right as the game moved to the fifth inning with the Huskies leading 3-1. Washington added to its lead with Souza's solo home run to left in the fifth as the Huskies opened a 4-1 lead.

Souza led Washington at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. Shubert took the loss for Upstate and fell to 33-6 on the year. She allowed four runs on 10 Washington hits while striking out four. It was her first loss since a 3-0 decision at South Carolina on April 7.

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