The Trouble is Bruin

UCLA scores two in the ninth, wins pitchers' duel 2-1

By Zack Walton

No hits, no runs, no errors.

These words were uttered by the stadium announcer at Bulldog Diamond over and over Sunday afternoon.

The final game of the 2004 Clovis Auto Row Softball Classic featured two pitchers—going head-to-head—in what would prove to be a battle of who could keep zeros on the scoreboard longer.

Fresno State’s Jamie Southern was locked in a pitcher’s duel with UCLA’s Keira Goerl, both pitchers keeping their shutouts through eight innings. But the ninth inning proved dangerous for Goerl and deadly for Southern—as Fresno State scored one run in the top of the inning, only to have the Bruins push two runs across in the bottom of the inning for the 2-1 victory.

No. 15 Fresno State (20-8) entered the game against No. 1 UCLA (26-1), which suffered its first loss of the season against No. 25 Oregon State earlier in the day, having lost the last five meetings with the Bruins.

After eight scoreless innings, Fresno State broke the scoreless tie when junior Leticia Pacheco attacked the first pitch from Goerl and lined it to right field, scoring Kristy Villaseñor and giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

Villaseñor, who pinch-ran for Porsha Finley, was put on second base to start the inning due to tournament rules, which place a runner on second before every extra-inning of play.

Needing a run to keep the Bulldogs from victory, the Bruins put runners at second and third for senior Stephanie Ramos.

Ramos, the team’s leading hitter, singled up the middle, past a diving Christina Clark—scoring two Bruins and ending the upset chance for the Bulldogs.

The win gave UCLA second place for the tournament, while Oregon State won its second classic title in four appearances.

Fresno State, which went 4-2 in the tournament, has not captured a classic title since 1998 when it beat runner-up UCLA.

Southern’s performance for the Bulldogs fell just short, as she was out-dueled by Goerl, who improved to 15-0 on the season.

“ It’s frustrating knowing that they really didn’t earn it because they had a runner put on second,” said Southern, who fell to 13-3 on the year. “But for the tournament [starting a runner on second in extra-innings] is acceptable. I’ve pitched the last three days, so if this game continued I’m sure I would have been a little fatigued.”

For their performances, not just on Sunday but throughout the week, Southern and Goerl were both named to the all-tournament team.

In the third, the Bulldogs had their best chance at scoring before extra innings, when Clark singled to right field with Mitzi Ing on second. Coach Margie Wright waved Ing home, only to have her gunned down at the plate by UCLA right fielder Caitlin Benyi.

“ We’re a little disappointed because we had it won, but I think we learned a lot and if we get another shot at them we hope that we’ll be even better next time,” Wright said.

Fresno State hosts Long Island in a doubleheader on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Bulldog Diamond.