OKLAHOMA CITY “”mdash; It’s a decision Texas coach Connie
Clark made with the utmost confidence, and one she swears she
doesn’t regret.
But there’s no denying that Clark exposed herself to a
storm of criticism by opting not to start All-American pitcher Cat
Osterman against UCLA in Sunday night’s Women’s College
World Series game.
With Osterman in the dugout, the Bruins pounced on freshman
Meagan Denny, scoring three runs in the first inning en route to a
3-0 win over Texas. UCLA advances to the best-of-three NCAA
Championship Series, with the first game scheduled for today
against the winner of this morning’s game between No. 1
Michigan (62-6) and No. 11 Tennessee (67-14).
“Hindsight’s 20/20,” Clark said. “I
recruited Denny to help us and not be in a position where we just
have to ride Cat. I’d do it again.”
Osterman, one of the main pitchers on the gold-medal winning
U.S. softball team at the Olympic Games last summer, had thrown
nearly 200 pitches in 11 innings earlier in the day in an
elimination game against Arizona. Also, back in March, Denny threw
3-1/3 innings of no-hit ball against the Bruins.
But Osterman didn’t do anything to make the decision look
any better on Sunday, not allowing a hit or a walk for No. 4 Texas
in 5-1/3 innings of relief.
“When we saw Denny got the nod, we remained poised
offensively,” UCLA coach Sue Enquist said. “I
appreciate that the team didn’t get to big. You can have a
tendency to be sloppy. But we stayed within ourselves.”
The two-time defending national champion Bruins weren’t
expected to be in position to win a third title after a season in
which they lost the second-most games in school history, but
they’re playing their best softball of the season when it
counts. After facing elimination five times in the first two rounds
of the postseason, they have surrendered just one run in World
Series victories over California, Tennessee and Texas en route to
the Championship Series.
Having made the most of its scoring chances in Oklahoma City
this week, UCLA once again was opportunistic against Texas, scoring
all of its runs with two outs. Two walks set the table for Jodie
Legaspi, who opened the floodgates with an RBI single up the
middle. Kristen Dedmon, the next batter, grounded to the shortstop,
but Longhorn Desiree Williams made a bad throw to first, allowing
Emily Zaplatosch to score. Krista Colburn then followed with a
bloop single near the right field foul line that scored Legaspi,
for the third and final run of the inning.
Only then did Clark call upon Osterman, who came in to relieve
Denny and retired Lisa Dodd to end the inning.
“It was very important to take advantage of our
opportunities, especially in a tournament like this,” Legaspi
said.
Texas didn’t have too many opportunities because
UCLA’s Anjelica Selden pitched brilliantly.
Selden, who lost a 1-0 decision to Osterman earlier this season,
posted a shutout of her own, allowing just two hits and striking
out 12 Longhorn hitters. Texas only had one real rally when it had
runners on second and third with only one out in the sixth inning
after a throwing error by Selden. But UCLA’s ace rebounded,
striking out Texas’ two best hitters in Chez Sievers and
Williams to end the threat.
“I’m really proud of how she regained her
composure,” Enquist said. “That’s part of the
game. Nothing’s automatic.”
The Bruins took the quickest route to the final series as
possible, winning all three of their games, including a 3-1 win
over Tennessee on Friday, a day after beating Cal, 2-1. Friday,
UCLA quickly got to Lady Volunteer ace Monica Abbott, who had a
streak of 44 consecutive scoreless innings going into that game.
Legaspi had two RBI singles in the game.