Tulsa
Nevada
Softball Wins Season Finale Over Nevada, 10-7
5/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 14, 2005
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa softball team ended the 2005 season on a high note with a 10-7 come-from-behind victory over Nevada. A crowd of 425 witnessed the Golden Hurricane score five runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to help insure the victory. Tulsa ends the season 31-30 (11-7 WAC), while Nevada concludes the 2005 season with a 22-31 (8-10 WAC) record.
Tulsa also earned a third place finish in the WAC standings, making it the third time in four seasons that TU has finished among the leagues top three teams. Head Coach Christy Connoyer also became the first TU softball coach to finish their initial campaign with a winning record.
The contest started out as a pitchers dual between TU's Lindsey Dyer and UN's Jordan McPherson. Dyer seemed to sail through the first two innings, giving up only one hit. A pair of walks in the bottom of the first got McPherson into a jam, however TU was unable to score. The Hurricane threatened again in the third, however McPherson got out of the inning.
Nevada opened the fourth inning with a hit and an error. Junior Brittany Lorenzen singled up the middle off Dyer's glove to start the inning. Fellow junior Candice Rainwater attempted to sacrifice her to second, however was safe at first when Katie Torres' throw went over Angela Osbon's head.
Following a groundout, Vanessa Briones singled home pinch runner Jaclyn Picollo to start the scoring. A walk by Kristin Stith loaded the bases and chased Dyer. Senior Ami Day came in to give up a bases clearing triple to right center. A two out single by Tyler Schafer gave the Wolf Pack a 5-0 lead on five hits in the inning.
Tulsa cut into the deficit with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Lindsey Tower led off the Hurricane half by reaching on an error. She scored from second on a double by junior Kelly Miller. Sophomore Julie Fennell came in to start the top of the fifth in the circle for the Hurricane, recording a pair of strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning.
Junior Julie Shafer then led off the bottom of the fifth with a bunt single down the third base line. After a steal by Shafer, senior Stacey Walkingstick singled to the left side for the second time of the game. With runners at the corners, Walkingstick stole second. She tied the school record for steals in a game with four, while the Hurricane tied the team record with six on the day.
Senior Stephanie Slipen recorded the Hurricane's third consecutive single of the inning to score Shafer. An intentional walk to Katie Torres loaded the bases with no outs. Tower drew a second walk to score Walkingstick. Sophomore Lindsay Galloway singled to left, scoring Sliepen.
Following Galloway's hit, junior Candice Rainwater took over pitching duties for the Wolf Pack. The third-year player has had TU's number the past three years. However, TU was able to continue the onslaught. Miller singled to left scoring Torres. Sophomore Angela Osbon singled to score Tower, on TU's sixth hit of the inning.
Rainwater then got freshman Sara Dyer to ground into a fielder's choice for the first out. A foul out and ground out then ended the inning for the Wolf Pack, but not before TU scored five runs on six hits to take a 6-5 lead.
Another perfect inning from Fennell set up the Hurricane bats in the sixth. Torres drew her third walk of the game. Tower singled to center, followed by an infield single by Galloway to load the bases for TU with one out. Miller's second double of the game gave her four RBI on the contest and scored Torres and Tower. A triple down the left field line by the younger Dyer scored Galloway and Miller, giving TU a 10-5 lead.
Nevada tried to mount a come back in the seventh inning with a pair of hits to open the stanza. Amanda Wise led off the inning with a single up the middle, followed by another single by Schafer. Kari Stockstill then took a pitch off the left bicep to load the bases. Wise would score from third on a pop-up by Lorenzen. However, Walkingstick and Shafer ran into each other allowing Lorenzen to be safe at first on the error.
A fielders' choice allowed Schafer to score from third. With the tying run at the plate and only one out, Fennell was able to induce a pair of fly outs to end the game.
Miller led the Hurricane hitters with three hits, including two doubles, and four RBI. Walkingstick and Galloway also recorded two hits for TU, while Shafer, Sliepen, Tower, Osbon and Sara Dyer posted hits as well.
Neavda was led by a 2-for-3 performance by Schafer. Lorrenzen also posted two hits, while Wise, Briones, Stith and Cindy Elkins also recorded hits. McPherson picked up her third loss of the series to end the season with a 11-14 record. Fennell earned the win for a 10-13 record on the year for Tulsa.
