SEATTLE — Experience played a factor in the opening game of the University of Washington’s best-of-three NCAA super-regional series on Thursday night.
The young Oklahoma Sooners, without a single player who has ever gone to the College World Series, immensely enjoyed the experience.
The battle-tested Huskies? Well, they looked like wide-eyed greenhorns.
Star pitcher Danielle Lawrie got rocked for the first time this season, giving up a career-high five home runs in five innings of work, while UW was also plagued with mistakes in a 6-1 loss to the nothing-to-lose Sooners.
Jovial OU star Amber Flores hit three towering home runs off Lawrie and Sooners freshman Keilani Ricketts made sure that the runs held up in front of 1,662 shocked fans at the UW softball complex.
The defending national champion Huskies (48-7) have their backs against the proverbial wall now, needing a pair of wins over OU tonight to get back to the College World Series.
“We didn’t compete today as hard as we could’ve,” UW coach Heather Tarr said. “Tomorrow’s a new day, and we’ll see how much fight we have in us. And I think we have a lot of fight in us; we’re a pretty good team.”
Nothing about Thursday’s game would inspire much confidence in UW softball fans.
Lawrie, who allowed just 12 home runs in 2691/3 innings heading into the game and had never given up more than two in a contest, got rocked for five Thursday — three of them coming in the fifth inning. The Sooners hardly needed that much power, seeing as how UW’s offense has been virtually non-existent all tournament. Through four games in the NCAA tourney — all at home — the Huskies have scored just seven total runs and are hitting .170.
The Huskies’ uncharacteristic night was mainly about Lawrie (38-3) but went beyond the senior All-American. UW had two fielding errors, a running error that resulted in a double play, and a mental error that saw senior center fielder Alyson McWherter get caught out of position while backing up second base, allowing an OU runner to score from first on an attempted steal.
Flores started it all with a solo home run on Lawrie’s sixth pitch of the game, then a throwing error on the catcher led to McWherter’s gaffe and another run for a 2-0 Oklahoma lead.
Two innings later, Flores hit a home run to the same spot on a 2-2 pitch, extending the Sooners’ lead to 3-0 in the top of the third. She added a homer to right in the fifth, accounting for one of OU’s three solo shots in that inning as the Sooners built up a 6-0 lead.
It made for the most forgettable night of Lawrie’s impressive UW career. She left the game after five innings, having given up six runs on seven hits.
“I feel like moments like this humble you as a player,” said Lawrie, who was replaced by freshman Baily Harris to start the sixth. “They allow you to go: ‘Tomorrow could be the last game I’m ever going to play, so what am I going to do to battle every single pitch?’
“I’m going to go to the hotel (after Thursday’s game), look myself in the mirror and say: ‘What am I going to do different?’ Because I’ve got to do something different.”
OU’s Flores doesn’t want to change a thing. After struggling at the plate in a regional at Maryland last week, Flores had a conversation with Sooners Patty Gasso about trying not to let the pressure get to her.
Flores has been loose all week, and after hitting three home runs Thursday, she was as relaxed as ever. When the post-game press conference started late Thursday night, the OU senior let out a big yawn.
“I just felt looser and more confident in my game,” Flores said. “I just felt really good.”
Gasso said that her whole team was “very loose, very free” on Thursday night, a night that she said “we’ll remember forever.”
Even the Sooners’ freshman pitcher carried the calm presence of a veteran. Ricketts retired the first 10 batters in order, then pitched her way out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth to maintain a 3-0 lead.
UW scored its only run in the bottom of the seventh, when Taylor Smith drove in a run with a two-out single. The Huskies had just two hits against Ricketts (32-8).
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” UW shortstop Jenn Salling said. “But we play (again tonight), and we’re ready to move on. … You can’t dwell on this game. If you do that, (Friday) is going to be a long day.”
The two teams play at 5:30 p.m. today, and again at 8 p.m. if the Huskies win the first. If the Sooners win either game, UW’s impressive run comes to an end and Lawrie’s historic career is over.
“It’s hard to be embarrassed,” Lawrie said. “It is a game, and you work so hard at it, and you have to understand that there are going to be ups and downs. How are you going to be different?
“What I love about it is that I’m going to wake up, and I’m going to be able to play again. And I want to play longer.”
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