OKLAHOMA CITY — Danielle Lawrie made the most of her first chance at redemption.
After walking in the deciding run in UW’s 9-8 loss to Georgia earlier in the day, Lawrie didn’t even have to wait to take the mound in the second game to make amends. Washington loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning against Georgia’s Erin Arevalo, and Lawrie hit an opposite-field drive over the fence in right field to stake the Huskies to a 4-0 lead they would not relinquish in a 9-3 win over the Bulldogs Sunday.
The win advanced Washington (49-12) to the best-of-three championship series in the Women’s College World Series, which begins tonight. The Huskies face Florida (63-3), which defeated Alabama in dramatic fashion Sunday to punch its ticket (see Page C6). It’s the Huskies’ first chance to play for the championship since 1999.
Brianna Hesson, who had drawn the bases-loaded walk in the first game, delivered a two-run single in the third to get Georgia within 5-3 but the Bulldogs couldn’t come up with their third comeback win of the World Series.
“I had one bad inning tonight where they got some runs on the board and then I just checked in and was like, ‘Do we want to make it to the final? OK, not going to happen. They’re not going to score,’ ” Lawrie said. “It’s a mental switch that is going to be turned on for the rest of the week.”
Morgan Stuart added a solo home run and Jenn Salling drove in two runs for Washington, which has been on the road for three straight weeks — including a 15-inning win in a regional elimination game at Massachusetts.
“Obviously, we don’t take the easy road anywhere we go,” Huskies coach Heather Tarr said.
Only one grand slam had been hit in the previous 26 years of the World Series, but four were hit within a 24-hour span this year, including Lawrie’s.
Georgia rallied from three-run deficits — a seemingly insurmountable hole in most years — on back-to-back days and bashed a World Series-record seven home runs.
Washington’s Niki Williams, who had only two home runs all season, hit three in as many games at the World Series and set a new record with seven RBI in Sunday’s first game with a three-run homer and a grand slam.
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