May 20, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. - Pacific's Cindy Ball threw a two-hit shutout as the third-seeded Tigers defeated top-seeded Stanford 2-0 in the first game of Championship Sunday of the NCAA Softball Regional at Stanford's Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium. This forces a second championship game to be played at 3:30 p.m. today. The Tigers are now 50-12 while the Cardinal is 51-14-1.
Pacific took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. With two outs, Adrienne Ratajczak walked and stole second. Then Estee Okumura reached on an infield single, and Ratajczak rounded third and slid under the tag at the plate for a 1-0 Tiger lead.
The Tigers added an insurance run in the sixth. Ratajczak drew her second walk of the game and Okumura was hit by a pitch. Then, Boni Kading came through with a clutch, two-out single up the middle, scoring Ratajczak for a 2-0 lead.
Ball held Stanford to just two hits (singles by Ramona Shelburne and Jessica Mendoza) while striking out five and walking none. She didn't allow a runner past second base and improves to 32-8 with the win.
Dana Sorensen went six innings for the Cardinal in the circle. She gave up two runs on five hits while striking out nine and walking three. She took the loss to fall to 24-4. Tori Nyberg came on in relief in the seventh and didn't allow a hit.
This was the third time these two teams have met this season. Stanford swept a doubleheader from the Tigers (2-0, 4-0) at the beginning of the season.
Pacific 2, Stanford 0 Score by Innings1234567R H E Pacific 00010102 5 0 Stanford 00000000 2 1 WP - Cindy Ball (33-8) to Kelly Lowry. LP - Dana Sorensen (24-4) to Jessica Allister. Save - None. 2B - None. 3B - None. HR - None. E - Robin Walker (STAN). LOB - Pacific 7, Stanford 2. Records: Pacific 50-12, Stanford 51-14-1.