Husky softball team starts Women’s College World Series off with a critical win over Utah
OKLAHOMA CITY — The extra wait was worth it for the Washington softball team.
Rylee Holtorf drove in three runs and Lindsay Lopez and Ruby Meylan took care of the pitching, leading Washington to a 4-1 win over Pac-12 foe Utah in its opening game of the Women’s College World Series on Friday.
With the win, No. 7 overall seed Washington advanced into the winners’ side of the bracket. The Huskies will now play No. 3 overall seed Florida State (56-9), which beat Oklahoma State 8-0 Thursday.
The Huskies (44-13) and Seminoles are scheduled to play at 4 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday.
“I’m proud of our team — everybody on our team,” said UW coach Heather Tarr. “We have 17 women on this team and that’s a very small roster, and we nearly used every single person. … We certainly could have used them all. I’m just proud of the work that they’re continuing to put in.”
Thanks to weather delays Thursday, the UW-Utah game was postponed a day until Friday. So, 15 1/2 hours later than originally scheduled, the two teams made their long returns to WCWS action.
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The Huskies were playing in the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2019. For the Utes, it was their first appearance in the WCWS since 1994.
Washington and No. 15-seeded Utah were certainly familiar with each other. The two teams had split four previous meetings, with Utah (42-15) winning the most recent one, an 8-4 decision in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament.
This game had higher stakes, and the Huskies came through in the extremely important first game in the WCWS.
Washington can now reach the WCWS title series with two straight wins. Utah is faced with having to win four straight games to get there, starting with a Friday night elimination game against Oklahoma State.
“I think for us it was trying not put too much pressure on ourselves but also knowing that we were going to be OK if that didn’t happen (losing to Utah and going into the losers’ side of the bracket),” Tarr said.
Meylan started for the Huskies and she had to work out of an early jam. A one-out walk was followed by an error by second baseman Baylee Klingler to put runners on first and second.
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But Meylan got a strikeout and groundout to escape unscathed.
Utah got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second. With one out, Utah’s Haley Denning slapped a ground ball that bounced just over the outstretched glove of Meylan and trickled into short right field.
Denning never slowed and narrowly beat the throw to second base. She scored soon after on a more typical double, a line drive to left field by Kendall Lundberg.
It was the first run the Huskies had given up in 16 innings.
Utah’s lead did not last long.
Utes starter Mariah Lopez, who retired the first five Husky hitters, walked SilentRain Espinoza on four pitches with two outs in the bottom of the second inning.
That walk became a much bigger deal when sophomore shortstop Rylee Holtorf hit a two-run homer to left field — her fifth of the season.
Holtorf also had a two-run homer in UW’s 8-0 win in the first game of its super regional sweep of Louisiana.
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“I’ve been just going to compete every at-bat, and kind of having the same mindset,” said Holtorf, a sophomore shortstop. “The stage is a little bigger but it’s the same getting in the (batter’s) box and the same routine.”
But does it mean more to homer in the CWCS.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling,” Holtorf said.
Meylan, meanwhile, struggled with her control, and after issuing her fourth walk with one out in the top of the fourth inning, UW coach Heather Tarr changed pitchers.
“We Lindsay was the better option at that point in time and the game,” said Tarr, who said she plans to continue to pitch Meyland, the freshman ace.
Lindsay Lopez allowed a bloop single to the first hitter she faced, then with two outs, she hit a batter to load the bases. But in a huge moment, Lopez then got Julia Jimenez, Utah’s No. 3 hitter, to pop out to first base.
“I was really excited because I knew that she was someone that’s hard for me to get out,” Lopez said of Jimenez. “I played with her in high school long, and I knew that I had to get her out today.”
Washington got its second hit of the game with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning on a sharp single to second from Kelley Lynch.
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That brought up Holtorf, and she delivered again after Avery Hobson, pinch-running for Lynch, stole second base.
Holtorf, who was 3 for 3, singled to center, driving home Hobson for the Huskies’ third run.
Olivia Johnson hit a sacrifice fly for UW in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Not that Lopez needed the extra run, retiring the side in order in the seventh inning to finish off UW’s win.
Lopez picked up the win, allowing one hit, one walk and one hit batter in 3 2/3 innings.
“It feels really good, but I still have that headspace of we’re not done,” Lopez said of the team’s win. “We still have a lot more to do.”
Source: The Seattle Times
