Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UCLA<BR>(NCAA Regionals)
Softball Falls to UCLA 3-0 in NCAA Regionals
5/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 16, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. - UCLA's Keira Goerl threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout to lead UCLA past Fresno State 3-0 on Friday afternoon a winner's bracket game at the 2003 NCAA Softball Regionals in Fresno, Calif.
The win moves the top-seeded Bruins (47-6), who are 2-0 in the regional, into a winner's bracket game tomorrow at 3 p.m. against the winner of the Michigan State-Georgia game.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (34-21) fall into an elimination game tonight at 8 p.m. against North Carolina. Both Fresno State and the Tar Heels are 1-1 in regional competition..
Goerl, who threw four hitless innings in a start on Thursday against Colgate, was dominant again as she allowed just two singles and struck out five. Only one Bulldog runner advanced past second base in the game.
Fresno State's Jamie Southern (Clovis, Calif.) was equally impressive, allowing just three runs on seven hits to go along with eight strikeouts.
UCLA got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning. Stephanie Ramos doubled with one out and one hitter later, came around to score on an RBI single by Toria Auelua to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, UCLA went up 2-0 on an RBI single by Tairia Mims. After Andrea Duran struck out, Natasha Watley roped a triple and eventually came around to score one out later on a single by Mims.
The Bulldogs wasted a good opportunity to score in the bottom of the fourth. Christina Clark (Santa Ana, Calif.) led off with a walk and stole second to open the inning. Goerl then fanned Angelina Diaz (Madera, Calif.) in a lengthy at-bat for the first out and came back to retire Lori Hoffman (Benicia, Calif.) on a groundout, despite Clark moving to third on the play. Goerl then got Southern to ground out on a 3-0 pitch to end the inning.
The Bruins built their lead to 3-0 in the top of the sixth. Claire Sua singled to open the inning but was lifted for pinch runner Amanda Simpson. One out later, Emily Zaplatosch walked to put runners on first and second and Monique Meija followed with a base hit to score Simpson for a 3-0 lead.
` Fresno State picked up a one-out single from Lori Hoffman in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to do any more damage.
The game matched two of the NCAA's most-winningest coaches in softball history, as Fresno State's Margie Wright (1,062-363-3) and UCLA's Sue Enquist (742-136-1) were pitted against one another.
