There’s nothing like a thousand-mile, mid-week road trip to break a nine-game winning streak.
On Wednesday, the No. 2 UCLA Bruins (35-9, 10-5 Pac-10) were held hitless by pitcher Danielle Lawrie as No. 4 Washington (36-9, 9-6 Pac-10) took a critical 3-0 victory to stay in the race for the Pac-10 championship. It was the junior Lawrie’s (27-5) fourth career no-hitter and 14th shutout this year.
The game was a classic pitcher’s duel, reminiscent of the Bruins’ 2-0, 11-inning win over the Huskies on April 10th. Only that time, Bruins junior Megan Langenfeld (11-1) got the start and the win after throwing eight innings of no-hit ball and Lawrie got the loss.
“(Langenfeld) pitched well today,” Inouye-Perez said. “She’s a big part of why we’ve been so successful in the last month.”
Langenfeld was also the only Bruin doing anything on offense. She got on base twice ““ the Bruins only base runner ““ by drawing a walk in the fourth and getting hit in the seventh. Other than that, the Bruins only hit two balls out of the infield (a fly out to left and one to right field) and struck out eight times.
“Lawrie did a great job,” Langenfeld said. “She kept us off balance the entire game. She mixed in her change-up really well. She pretty much had a great day.”
The Huskies weren’t stellar at the plate either, but they didn’t spin their wheels as much as the Bruins did. Langenfeld, the current National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and Pac-10 Player of the Week, kept the game scoreless through four, scattering and stranding the runners that resulted from two hits and a walk.
But in the fifth, after Langenfeld allowed an 0-2 leadoff single to Alicia Blake, Morgan Stuart hit a ball toward Bruin second baseman Amanda Kamekona. Kamekona overran the ball, and then tried to shovel the ball from her glove to first baseman GiOnna DiSalvatore. But the ball fell short of first and the Huskies had another runner on base. Blake’s pinch runner, Marnie Koziol, stole third on the next play, and Stuart took second.
It was a jam.
But Langenfeld almost worked her way out of it. She got the next two batters to ground out and strike out. She intentionally walked Ashley Charters to load the bases and set up the force out at the plate. She worked a 1-2 count on Kimi Pohlman. Then Pohlman doubled to left to empty the bases and put the Huskies up three.
“Langenfeld wins ball games because defense plays well behind her. She’s not going to be a pitcher that’s going to strike out double digits every game. She’s a pitcher that’s going to put the ball in play,” Inouye-Perez said. “Unfortunately, her defense didn’t show up behind her.”
BACK HOME, AGAIN: After three weeks on the road, the Bruins return to play at Easton Stadium for the final weeks of Pac-10 Conference play. On Friday, the Bruins host the Oregon Ducks (15-29, 2-13 Pac-10) at 1 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, they face Oregon State (24-25, 3-12 Pac-10). This season, the Bruins have outscored the Oregon schools 23-3 in three games.