UCLA
Florida State
UCLA Softball Advances to College World Series
May 21, 2000 | Softball
May 21, 2000
LOS ANGELES -- UCLA defeated Florida State for the second straight day, downing the Seminoles 7-1 to win the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA Softball Championship and advance to the Women's College World Series, which begins May 25 in Oklahoma City, OK. The Bruins will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will face Alabama in their opening game at 12:30 p.m. PT on Thursday.
The Bruins scored four unearned runs in the top of the third inning to strike first. With Lupe Brambila on third and Julie Adams on first base, UCLA catcher Julie Marshall hit a grounder to Florida State pitcher Leslie Malerich, who was unable to handle the ball. With Marshall reaching first on the error, shortstop Natalie Bennett threw to third baseman Becky Brock with a chance to throw out Brambila, who had turned the corner wide. However,Brock lost her balance and fell backwards, allowing Brambila to score easily. Klein, the next batter, homered for the ninth time this season to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead.
UCLA added some insurance runs in the top of the sixth when Adams' groundout to second base scored Brambila. Marshall followed with her team-leading 11th home run to score Amanda Freed and give the Bruins a 7-0 lead.
Freed had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the sixth, but an infield single by Rita Brooks ended Freed's bid. The Seminoles also ended the Bruins' shutout bid in the bottom of the seventh inning when Teresa Edenfield hit an RBI single off relief pitcher Courtney Dale. However, Dale got pinch hitter Jackie Hirschfeld to ground out to second with the bases loaded to end the game.
Freed pitched six innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts to earn the victory and improve her season record to 25-7. Malerich absorbed the loss, dropping her season record to 35-15. Florida State's season ends at 51-27. UCLA improves to 43-11-1.
Freed was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Also making the all-tournament team were UCLA's Natasha Watley, Klein, Crissy Buck and Adams, Florida State's Malerich, Andi Lyons, Serita Brooks and Staci Brandon, Iowa's Alicia Gerlach and Kelly Zielstra, and Canisius' Genevieve Garcia.
