Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
No. 23 Hawai'i
`Dogs Force Hawai'i to Championship Finale
5/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 15, 2010
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Fresno State softball team headed into the Western Athletic Conference Championship needing to win game one to have a shot at the title and the Bulldogs did just that by defeating No. 23 Hawai'i 4-3. However, in the deciding championship game, Hawai'i rallied back for a 14-3 victory in five innings. The `Dogs are 39-19 overall.
"I thought we did a great job today in that first game," said head coach Margie Wright. "When you come off of a 16-1 loss it's tough and we were able to hold them down, score and beat them which was a tremendous boost for us. Unfortunately we didn't let the momentum go into the second game but we didn't stop fighting."
Game One
Haley Gilleland led off the game for the `Dogs with a single to left field on the first pitch. Andrea Ortega followed with a single up the middle. They advanced bases with a wild pitch.
Michelle Moses singled to Stephanie Ricketts to load the bases for Courtney Moore. The second wild pitch by Ricketts brought Gilleland home for a 1-0 Bulldog lead.
Moore gets an RBI on a ground out as Ortega scores from third and the `Dogs go up 2-0 with one out.
Caitlin Stiglich drove in Moses from third with a ground out to the second baseman for the third run of the inning.
Hawai'i threatened in the bottom of second and had the bases loaded but Moses got out of the game with a pop out to Alexis Lujan in right field.
Kanani Pu'u-Warren put UH on the board in the bottom of the third with a single up the middle that scored Jenna Rodriguez from second.
Moore led off the Bulldog fourth with a walk. Caitlin Stiglich followed with a single up the middle. Kaylan Pollard entered to pinch run for Moore and Pollard and Stiglich advanced on a ground out by Nicole Angene.
Alexis Lujan, who got the start in right field, hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Pollard to score from third as the `Dogs went up 4-1.
After a double to lead off the fifth inning by Rodriguez, her pinch runner Mikalemi Tagab-Cruz scored on a single by Alex Aguirre and Bulldog error. Aguirre scored on a ground out by Pu'u-Warren to cut the lead to 4-3.
The Bulldogs held Hawai'i to a rare stat, not allowing a home run. It was only the ninth game all season that UH has not hit a home run.
Moses got the win to improve to 11-1 on the year and hand Hawai'i its first loss of the WAC Tournament and its second loss by a WAC team this season. The `Dogs defeated UH in game two of the series in Honolulu on May 1. Moses allowed three runs on nine hits. Mackenzie Oakes picked up her first career save allowing no runs on four hits in 3.0 innings.
Ricketts fell to 24-7, allowing four runs on six hits.
Game Two
Kelly Majam led off the game for Hawai'i with a solo home run to center field off of Oakes.
With the bases loaded, Oakes walked Pu'u-Warren for the second run and Amanda Tauali'i hit a grand slam to center as UH went up 6-0.
In the second inning, Hawai'i got two more runs off of a double by Rodriquez and then a two-run home run by Aguirre put UH up 10-0.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the third, Morgan Melloh hit Aguirre as the 11th run came in.
The 12th run was a solo homer to left field by Traci Yoshikawa with two outs in the fourth.
Melissa Gonzalez added to the total with a two-run home run in the fifth for a 14-0 lead.
The `Dogs got on the board in the fifth with two outs. After singles by Lujan and Becca Walker, Andrea Ortega hit a three-run home run to center field to make the score 14-3.
Oakes got the loss for the `Dogs, she allowed 10 runs, nine earned, on seven hits in 1.1 innings. Melloh pitched 3.2 innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits.
Kaia Parnaby got the win for Hawai'i, allowing just three runs on six hits in 5.0 innings.
Fresno State will now wait to see if it receives an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection show is Sunday at 7 p.m. PST on ESPNU. The `Dogs are the only team to have participated in all 28 NCAA Tournaments.
WAC All-Tournament Team
Kathy Cox, Boise State
Kelli Fangonilo, SJSU
Haley Gilleland, Fresno State
Melissa Gonzalez, Hawai'i
Katie Grimes, Hawai'i
Natasha Hawkins, SJSU
Jessica Iwata, Hawai'i
Michelle Moses, Fresno State
Caitlin Stiglich, Fresno State
Lela Work, Boise State
MVP: Kelly Majam, Hawai'i
WAC Tournament Scores
Wednesday's Scores
SJSU 6, LA Tech 5
Boise State 9, NMSU 8
Thursday's Scores
Hawai'i 16, SJSU 8 (6 innings)
Fresno State 5, Boise State 4
SJSU 9, NMSU 8 (NMSU eliminated)
Boise State 8, LA Tech 2 (LA Tech eliminated)
Friday's Scores
Hawai'i 16, Fresno State 1 (5 innings)
Boise State 6, SJSU 5 (8 innings, SJSU eliminated)
Fresno State 6, Boise State 5 (Boise State eliminated)
Saturday's Scores
Fresno State 4, Hawai'i 3
Hawai'i 14, Fresno State 3 (5 innings)
Hawai'i earned the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
"We Are Your Team" - Watch the NCAA selection show on ESPNU Sunday at 7 p.m.
