OKLAHOMA CITY -
- Kimi Pohlman raced home on a squibber back to the circle that Florida ace Stacey Nelson couldn't handle, giving Washington the decisive run in a 3-2 victory for its first NCAA softball championship Tuesday night.
With the bases loaded in the third inning, Morgan Stuart tapped the ball a few feet in front of home plate, but Nelson (41-5) was unable to scoop it cleanly. That allowed the go-ahead run to score.
2009 NCAA tournament
Take a look back at the 2009 NCAA softball tournament.
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National player of the year Danielle Lawrie (42-8) shut out the top-seeded Gators (63-5) the rest of the way to clinch the title with a two-game sweep.
Washington (51-12) kept the championship in the Pac-10 by keeping Florida from bringing the Southeastern Conference its first title. The Pac-10 has won 21 of the 27 Women's College World Series titles, with Arizona State and Washington joining powerhouses UCLA (11 championships) and Arizona (eight) the past two years.
Huskies players tossed their gloves into the air and gathered in a huddle near home plate after Lawrie struck out Ali Gardiner to end the game. The huddle of players soon fell over onto the ground after being handed the NCAA championship trophy.
The celebration capped a road trip that has kept the Huskies away from home for three weeks.
The team caught a flight out of Seattle on May 13 after being sent to Massachusetts for the opening weekend of NCAA tournament play. The Huskies stayed on the East Coast for a super regional against Georgia Tech in Atlanta before coming directly to Oklahoma City for the World Series.
When they end their 6,899-mile trek and arrive back in Seattle, they'll have some new hardware. It was the school's fifth NCAA title overall, and the first since the women's volleyball team won its only championship in 2005.
With Lawrie and Canadian Olympic teammate Jenn Salling leading the way, the Huskies were right at home in Oklahoma City.
Lawrie settled down after some shaky defense put the third-seeded Huskies in a 2-0 hole right off the bat. She finished with a pair of strikeouts after Christina Enea narrowly missed a tying home run with a line drive off the left field wall in the seventh inning.
Lawrie was selected the most outstanding player of the World Series.
Florida's Aja Paculba led off the game with a triple to right-center field past a diving Aly McWherter and came in on a passed ball. Kristina Hilbreth reached on an error, moved to second on Enea's infield single and was able to sneak into third on a steal when Stuart lingered too far from the base to tag her. She scored on Megan Bush's sacrifice fly.
Washington answered immediately against Nelson, who led the nation in ERA but was coming off two of her worst outings of the season. Lawrie's RBI single and a wild pitch that brought in Pohlman evened the score at 2 in the bottom of the first.
Danielle Lawrie is the first Husky softball player to earn National Player of the Year honors.
Lawrie Named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
Lawrie first Husky and first Canadian to win most prestigious college softball award
May 26, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced today the selection of Washington's Danielle Lawrie (Langley, British Columbia) as the recipient of the 8th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award.
Lawrie is the first Husky softball player to win any kind of National Player of the Year award. The announcement was made during the opening ceremonies for the 2009 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
The junior beat out Florida pitcher Stacey Nelson and Arizona State outfielder Kaitlin Cochran for the award, both of whom were seniors.
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"I have to say congratulations to both Kaitlin (Cochran) and Stacey (Nelson) on a great season. It very well could have been either of them standing up here instead of me," Lawrie said at the ceremony. "I have to say thanks to my dad who has been such a great supporter of my career and also to my teammates, as I could not be here without them. They allow me to stand up here and receive this award so I am very grateful to them. Also, thanks to Coach Tarr who has helped me throughout my career to be the player I am." - Danielle Lawrie - Collegiate Player of The Year
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Lawrie has had a record-breaking season for the Huskies, establishing new single-season school records for wins (37), strikeouts (472) and shutouts (19) and also broke UW's career strikeout record early in the season. She has extended that record past the 1,000 and 1,200-career strikeout marks throughout the season and last weekend also went over the 1,300 mark. She currently has 1,316 strikeouts, good for fifth in Pac-10 history and 15th in NCAA history.
After redshirting last season to play for the Canadian National Team in the Olympic Games, Lawrie came out stronger than ever this season, starting the 2009 campaign 15-0 with a 0.14 ERA as the Huskies jumped out to the best start in program history at 18-0. She beat such teams in the non-conference portion of the schedule as No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Alabama, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Michigan and No. 12 Ohio State, all of which were shutouts. She was at her best in UW's thrilling nine-inning 1-0 victory over the Gators, striking out 12 and allowing just a pair of infield singles to out-duel Nelson.
Lawrie carried her domination into the grueling Pac-10 schedule, where she fired no-hitters against two of the nation's most potent offenses in Arizona and UCLA. The two no-hitters made her the first pitcher in NCAA history to hold the Wildcats and Bruins hitless in a career, let alone a season. Lawrie went on to be named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year, leading the conference in wins, ERA, strikeouts and shutouts.
The season has only gotten better for Lawrie since postseason play heated up, with the award possibly clinched over the last two weekends with a pair of huge performances. In the NCAA Regionals in Amherst, Mass., Lawrie went head-to-head with three-time All-American pitcher Brandice Balschmiter of UMass. In one of the greatest pitcher's duels in NCAA history, Lawrie outlasted Balschmiter in the deciding winner-take-all game, pitching every inning of UW's 15-inning, 6-1 victory. Her 24 strikeouts in the game were a school record and she became one of just three Pac-10 pitchers and 15 in NCAA history to fan at least 24 in a game.
In last weekend's Super Regional finale, Lawrie also proved to be a dangerous two-way threat. In the Super Regional-clinching victory, Lawrie allowed just three hits and struck out eight but it was at the plate where she made the most impact, blasting a pair of two-run home runs to give UW a 7-0 win to advance to their second World Series in three years.
Lawrie heads into the World Series with a 37-7 record, a 0.84 ERA and 472 strikeouts to go along with a .277 average, six home runs and 25 RBI.
"We've never had an award like this at Washington for softball," Washington head coach Heather Tarr said. "It's awesome thinking back four or five years ago when I was sitting with Danielle while we were trying to recruit her and how far she has come. I know the belief she has always had in herself and we have always had in her and its neat to see that finally come to fruition. I'm just really proud of her and what she has been able to do for our program. The fact that she has one more full year left is amazing." A replica of the award will be placed in a permanent display in the ASA National Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, along with photos of the winner. An additional replica of the award will be presented to the player's academic institution at a designated event in the fall.
Past winners of the award include Stacey Nuveman (UCLA-2002), Cat Osterman (Texas-2003, 2005, 2006), Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State-2004), Monica Abbott (Tennessee-2007) and Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech-2008).
The Huskies kick of the 2009 Women's College World Series on Thursday at 10 a.m. PT when they face No. 6 Georgia. The game will air live on ESPN.
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Huskies Earn No. 3 Overall Seed For NCAA Tourney
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SEATTLE - The Washington softball team has earned the No. 3 overall seed in the 64-team NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, as announced by the NCAA Selection Committee on Sunday night.
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The Huskies, who finished with a 41-10 overall record and placed second the Pac-10 conference with a 14-7 record, will travel to Amherst, Mass., and will be the highest team in the regional, which also features Cornell, Sacred Heart and host-school Massachusetts. UW's opening game will be against Sacred Heart of Fairfield, Conn., on Friday. Sacred Heart is making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
UW, which is making its 16th consecutive trip to the postseason, is one of six Pac-10 teams to make the 64-team tournament along with Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford and UCLA. The Bruins own the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament behind No. 1 Florida.
Friday's game between Washington and Sacred Heart (25-26) is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. If UW should win, they would face the winner between Cornell (42-11) and Massachusetts (38-8) in the double-elimination tournament.
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The winner of Sunday's championship game will advance to the Super Regionals which take place the weekend of May 22-24.
The Pioneers won the Northeast Conference Championship on Saturday to earn their first trip to postseason play. Cornell won the Ivy League title while UMass qualified by winning the Atlantic-10.
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Thirty conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 34 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will play at campus sites this weekend.
Team pairings were determined by geographical proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during regional competition, when possible.
The SEC led all conferences with nine teams in the championship, while the Big 12 placed seven and the Big Ten and the Pacific-10 each placed six. California State University, Fresno, remains the only team to be selected to all 28 championships. Seven teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Bradley University, James Madison University, the University of Kentucky, North Dakota State University, Radford University, Sacred Heart University and the University of Tennessee at Martin.
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The Huskies were ranked No. 4 in the most recent NFCA Division I rankings. They have defeated 19 of the 64 teams of the tournament this season, including 11 of the 16 seeded teams. UW is one of three teams to defeat top-seeded Florida this season, edging the Gators 1-0 in nine innings back in late February.
Washington Powers Past Florida 8-0 in Game One
of WCWS Championship
Danielle Lawrie struck out 12, walked three and allowed two Gator hits.
June 2, 2009
Courtesy of University of Florida Sports Information
No. 1/1 University of Florida lost the first game of the Women's College World Series championship series, 8-0, to No. 3/4 Washington. The Gators (63-4) tallied their first loss in 29 games, breaking the NCAA's longest win streak of the season.
Senior Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) recorded only her fourth loss of the season, allowing five hits and six runs, four earned. The righty (41-4) walked only two and struck out five in the outing.
Danielle Lawrie (41-8) recorded the win for the Huskies (50-12), striking out 12, walking three and allowing two Gator hits.
The eight-run loss was the worst for Florida since a 10-2 defeat to UCLA on March 3, 2007. Junior Corrie Brooks (Christmas, Fla.) and freshman Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) recorded the hits for the Gators, as Brooks tallied an infield single in the third and Moultrie nailed a single to left field in the sixth.
Washington wasted no time getting on base in the first, but the Gators squashed the Huskies' attempts to cross the plate. Ashley Charters started the game off with a high chopper back to the mound and beat Nelson's throw to first. She then advanced to third on a Gator error on Kimi Pohlman's grounder. With two runners in scoring position, Jennifer Salling grounded to sophomore second baseman Aja Paculba (Wildomar, Calif.) who fired home to senior catcher Kristina Hilberth (Dunedin, Fla.) to tag out Charter and keep the Huskies off the board. Nelson went to work, getting the next batter swinging and next to ground out to end the inning and leave runners stranded at the corners.
The Huskies tallied four runs in the third to take the lead. Niki Williams led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a stolen base. Charters followed with a hard-hit single to second and Pohlman hit a chopper to sophomore shortstop Megan Bush (Anaheim Hills, Calif.), who looked Williams back at third, but could do nothing with the ball.
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With the bases loaded, Salling nailed a single up the middle, scoring Williams and Charters. Senior center fielder Kim Waleszonia (Fontana, Calif.) fired home to try to get Charters on a close play at the plate and Hilberth then tried to catch Salling advancing to second, but the ball sailed over Bush's head and both runners were able to hustle home to give Washington a 4-0 lead.
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The Huskies added two more in the fifth with two-outs on a double that hit the center-field wall. After a lead-off walk, the Gators got the next two lead runners at second on groundouts. Lawrie singled up the middle to put runners on first and second and Morgan Stuart nailed her fourth double of the WCWS, a new record, to score her teammates.
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Sophomore Stephanie Brombacher (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) relieved Nelson in the sixth. After recording two outs, she gave up her fifth home run of the season to Charters to plate two more Huskies and give UW an 8-0 lead. Brombacher allowed two hits, two walks and the two runs in two innings of work.
The first time the Gators got two runners on base was in the sixth when Pacubla drew a one-out walk and Moultrie recorded a pinch-hit single to left field. Lawrie forced a groundout and struck out the final out of the inning.
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Official NCAA Tournament Site;
2009 Top 10 Finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate
Player of the Year
Name - School - Year - Position – Hometown
Stacie Chambers (Arizona) - Junior - Catcher - Glendale, Az.
Kaitlin Cochran (Arizona State) - Senior- Outfield - Yorba Linda, Calif.
Amber Flores (Oklahoma) - Junior - Infield - Calexico, Calif.
Alisa Goler (Georgia) - Sophomore - Infield - Frankfort, Ill.
Danielle Lawrie (Washington) - Junior - Pitcher - Langley, British Columbia
Charlotte Morgan (Alabama) - Junior- Pitcher/Utility - Moreno Valley, Calif.
Stacey Nelson (Florida) - Senior - Pitcher - Los Alamitos, Calif.
Amber Patton (DePaul) - Senior - Third Base - Forsyth, Ill.
Missy Penna (Stanford) - Senior - Pitcher/Infield - Miami, Fla.
Tammy Williams (Northwestern) - Senior - Infield - Roscoe, Mo.
College World Series
May 31, 2009
Courtesy of GoHuskies.com
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Despite two home runs and a Women's College World Series record seven RBI from freshman Niki Williams, the Washington Huskies fell to Georgia, 9-8, in a wild World Series game Sunday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
The win by Georgia, which was facing elimination, forces a deciding game tonight at approximately 8 p.m. CT with the winner advancing to the Women's College World Series championship series which starts Monday.
Williams belted a three-run home run in the second inning to give UW a 3-0 lead and also hit a grand slam to tie the game at 8-8 in the fifth inning after Georgia came back to score two in the second, two in the third and four in the fourth to overcome a 4-0 deficit. Morgan Stuart also went 5-for-5 to tie a Women's College World Series and school postseason record for hits in game, but UW made a season-high four errors as the Bulldogs plated two unearned runs.
Georgia used a combination of four pitchers and made five pitching changes in a game that lasted four hours and 15 minutes. It was ultimately Erin Arevalo who shut the Huskies down, allowing no runs in four innings to earn the victory to improve to 2-0. Danielle Lawrie was touched up for a career-high nine runs - seven earned - on nine hits while striking out nine to fall to 39-8.
UW meanwhile, out-hit the Bulldogs, 13-9, but they weren't able to make the most of their opportunities. They lost for the first time in 40 games this season when they scored the first run of the game.
The Huskies jumped out to a 4-0 lead after a three-run home run by Williams in the second that chased started Sarah McCloud. Stuart led off the inning with a single to right field and after Alicia Blake moved her to second with a perfect sac bunt, Williams came up and blasted her fourth home run of the season over the season that cleared the centerfield bleachers.
The Bulldogs came right back in the bottom of the inning, however, to score a couple runs on three hits. After Megan Wiggins was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Georgia got back-to-back singles and a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2. After another single put runners on the corners with two outs, Lawrie got a pop out for the second out and then Alyson McWherter made a fabulous running catch in right-center at the fence to end the inning.
UW got one of the runs back in the top of the third, getting a lucky break with two outs. After Lawrie reached on a two-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Stuart lift a pop-up into shallow left which dropped between the leftfielder, centerfielder and shortstop, allowing Lawrie to score UW's fourth run. The Huskies looked like they might add another two runs when Blake sent a ball well over the right field foul poul, but the ball was called foul despite landing on the extended foul line beyond the fence. Blake came back and bounced a single up the middle, but reliever Taylor Schlopy retired the next batter to end the rally.
Georgia tied the game up in the bottom of the inning when Kristin Schnake reached on an error and Alisa Goler launched a home run to leftfield to make it 4-4.
The Huskies had an opportunity to take the lead back in the top of the fourth when they loaded the bases on three walks, but Georgia brought ace Christie Hamilton into the game, who got Lawrie to fly out to left to end the inning.
The Bulldogs then jumped on Lawrie for four runs in the fourth inning, the big blow coming on a two-run home run by Schnake, which made the score 8-4.
But UW wouldn't quit, getting all four runs back in the very next inning, all coming on a grand slam by Williams, who broke World Series records for RBI in a game (7) and a series (9) with her second home run of the game. Stuart led off the inning with her third single of the game and Ashlyn Watson also singled with one out before Lauren Greer drew a walk to load the bases. Williams then stepped up a launched a ball over the left field wall this time to give her a career-high seven RBI in the game, tying the UW postseason record.
Lawrie then came out for the fifth with her eye black and her game face on and it work as she got her first 1-2-3 inning since the first inning to keep Georgia off the board for the first time in four innings. She also went on to retire 14 in a row - including six by strikeout - until the Bulldogs get a single to lead off the ninth.
The Huskies had a chance to break through in the eighth when Stuart ripped a double to right-center for her fifth hit of the game, tying a Women's College World Series record. Blake then lined a single up the middle and pinch-runner Amanda Fleischman came steaming around the bases, but Schlopy made a perfect throw home from centerfield to gun her down and keep the game tied.
But the Bulldogs never stopped pushing Lawrie, getting a leadoff single in the ninth before another run reached on an error with one out. After Lawrie allowed her first intentional walk of the season to Goler to load the bases, she got a foul pop-up to Williams at first to put UW on the verge of escaping. Instead, Brianna Hesson worked the count full before drawing a walk to end the game.
Camile Depew an All Conference Player, leads SCC 
