UCLA
Fresno State
Bruin Softball Sweeps No. 5 Fresno State
February 26, 2000 | Softball
Feb. 26, 2000
LOS ANGELES - The second-ranked UCLA softball team posted an impressive doubleheader sweep of No. 5 Fresno State on Saturday, downing the Bulldogs by scores of 5-0 and 3-0 at Easton Stadium. The Bruins have now won five straight games against Fresno State dating back to the 1998 season.
In the first game, the Bruins scored early and often, opening up in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run home run by senior second baseman Lyndsey Klein. In the bottom of the second inning, the Bruins added three more runs, capped by a Julie Marshall single that hit the wall in centerfield and knocked in Klein and Natasha Watley.
That was all the offense that junior Stephanie Swenson needed, as she pitched three perfect and four hitless innings before Fresno third baseman Lindsay Fossatti hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth inning, the only Bulldog hit of the game. Swenson earned her second shutout and third victory of the season while striking out three batters.
In the nightcap, sophomore Amanda Freed took to the circle, pitching with six stitches and a fracture in the index finger of her pitching hand. Freed didn't let that slow her down, striking out five on her way to a three-hit shutout.
The Bruin bats were quiet early in the game. Watley singled in the first inning, and was UCLA's only baserunner until the fourth inning when Klein doubled to left field, advanced to third base on a Marshall groundout, and scored on a double down the right field line by freshman Tairia Mims. UCLA closed out the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning, when a towering home run by Marshall hit the left field foul pole for a two-run shot. A double to right centerfield by Mims chased FSU starting pitcher Amanda Scott from the game, before Kristen Hunter came in to record the last two outs of the inning.
The Bruins return to action on Friday, March 3, at the Torero Invitational classic in La Jolla, Calif. Their first game of the day is scheduled for 1 p.m. against Loyola Marymount.
