Feb. 15, 2009
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Powered by a one-hit shutout by pitcher by Jackie Lawrence and a grand slam by Lauren Lindsay, The University of Tulsa vanquished Colorado State 6-0 Sunday morning in the UC Riverside aTen Construction Tournament held at Amy S. Harrison Field.
Lawrence (4-0) allowed just one hit and one walk in 7.0 innings of work, striking out six Ram batters along the way. The Golden Hurricane offense, meanwhile, scored all six runs in the second inning and committed zero errors in the field, as TU (7-2) continues to use big innings, dominant pitching and solid defense to win games. The Hurricane scored six runs on seven hits and played errorless ball for the fifth consecutive game. Colorado State falls to 5-5 with the loss.
"We played an error-free game, and that is something that I am really proud of the girls - for playing error-free for the entire four-game tournament," Tulsa head coach John Bargfeldt said. "Our pitching couldn't have been much better. That was the thing we celebrated after this game - our pitching and our defense. We talked at the beginning of the year about how pitching and defense would take us where we wanted to go. This weekend we did that about as well as you can do it."
Lindsay, a junior outfielder, blasted a grand slam to center field in the six-run second inning that gave Tulsa all of the offense it needed in the game. She finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBI and a run scored, while her other hit was a single to centerfield in the fourth inning.
Junior first baseman Vanessa Vice went 2-for-3 in the game and scored a run, while sophomore designated player Lauren Menke went 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored and freshman second baseman Skylar Swanson went 1-for-2 with an RBI and run scored. Freshman centerfielder Jessica Stoelke recorded a hit in two at-bats and scored a run.
Colorado State's only hit off Lawrence came from the game's leadoff batter, shortstop Cailtan Stem. Lawrence then retired the next three batters, allowing the base runner to only reach second base. The Rams led off the second inning with a walk, and got another base runner in the inning when third baseman Ashley Maqueen reached on a fielder's choice, but neither runner passed second base. TU ended the inning with two more outs, and through the rest of the game after the walk, Lawrence recorded 18 straight outs, and did most of the work with a six-run lead.
After the Golden Hurricane went quietly in the first inning, it exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second inning as 10 batters reached the plate. Vice led off with a single to centerfield and stole second base. After a fly out, Menke smashed a double to score Vice and give Tulsa a 1-0 lead.
Stoelke followed with a single of her own, and senior third baseman Stephanie Chomciki was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Swanson, batting in the ninth spot, hit a single back to the pitcher to score Menke from third and bring up the top of the order and Lindsay to the plate. Lindsay then cleared the bases with her grand slam, giving the Golden Hurricane a 6-0 lead.
Tulsa got two more hits during the game, a single from Lindsay and a single to left field from Vice, but was unable to score any more runs. The big inning in the second, plus Lawrence's pitching did the trick, however, and TU walked away with a four game sweep of the tournament.
The Golden Hurricane will play its first home games of the season next weekend when Tulsa plays host to the Tulsa Select Festival. Tournament play begins at 10 a.m. Friday, while TU's first game is at 5 p.m. Friday against Louisiana-Monroe. Tickets to the Tulsa Select Festival and all Golden Hurricane softball games throughout the season can be purchased by visiting www.TulsaHurricane.com or by calling (918) 631-GoTU.
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