May 25, 2001
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Second-seeded UCLA scored five unanswered runs in the fourth inning to defeat the sixth-seeded Stanford softball team 5-0 in the Women's College World Series at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium on Friday night. The Cardinal (53-15-1) will play on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (PT) against the winner of Saturday's Cal-Michigan game. The Bruins are now 61-5 and play again on Sunday.
The Bruins got on the board in the fourth inning. Tairia Mims led off with a double down the right field line and Stacey Nuveman was intentionally walked for the second time of the game. Then Claire Sua came through with a home run to right. The Bruins continued to rally with Amanda Freed's single through the left side. Then Toria Auelua sent the first pitch she saw over the left field fence for a 5-0 Bruin lead.
Tori Nyberg relieved starting pitcher Dana Sorensen at this point and got the Cardinal out of the inning with a strikeout and a groundout.
The Cardinal had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the first. Jessica Mendoza reached on an infield single and Sarah Beeson and Jessica Allister both walked to load the bases. But UCLA got out of the inning with a fly out to left, as the Cardinal stranded three runners.
The only other time the Cardinal had runners on base was in the fourth. Jenni Shideler reached on a fielder's choice and Michelle Thiry singled, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
Sorensen was solid through the first three innings, striking out four and giving up just one hit. But in the fourth alone, Sorensen gave up five runs on four hits. She took the loss to fall to 26-5. Nyberg went the remaining 3 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out four. She retired seven of the first eight batters she faced.
In the circle for the Bruins, Keira Goerl went the first five innings and held the Cardinal scoreless. She scattered three hits and struck out five while walking three. She improves to 27-2 with the win. Courtney Dale came on in the sixth and pitched two innings of no-hit ball. This was the third time Goerl has beaten Stanford this year. She has yet to give up a run to the Cardinal and has allowed just four hits in 14 innings.
The Cardinal is now 1-3 against the Bruins this year, and has been shutout the last three times.
UCLA 5, Stanford 0 Score by Innings1234567R H E UCLA 00050005 6 0 Stanford00000000 3 0 WP - Keira Goerl (27-2) to Stacey Nuveman. LP - Dana Sorensen (26-5) to Jessica Allister. Save - None. 2B - Natasha Watley (UCLA), Tairia Mims (UCLA). 3B - None. HR - Claire Sua (UCLA), Toria Auelua (UCLA). E - None. LOB - UCLA 6, Stanford 5. Records: UCLA 61-5, Stanford 53-15-1.