OKLAHOMA CITY — Senior Kelsi Dunne and freshman Jackie Traina combined to allow just one hit Thursday in the University of Alabama softball team”s 1-0 victory against to down seventh-seeded California in the opening game of the Women”s College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
The victory in the opening game of the WCWS is a first for Alabama (52-9), which will play Baylor at 6 tonight (ESPN). Baylor defeated Oklahoma State 1-0 in eight innings.
“That”s a big ”ole monkey off our back,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. “It”s a long time coming. It was a great win. In the World Series and postseason you have to have great pitching and great defense, and you have to come up with a timely hit and today we got all three. You”ve got the pitcher, the great defense and the timely hit by the freshman (Kaila Hunt) with two outs and a runner on third, and that”s a recipe for success in postseason.”
Dunne baffled the Golden Bears” hitters all afternoon with her movement and wide array of pitches before relenting to the freshman Traina, who struck out two in the final frame to earn her third save, and second in the postseason.
Dunne (28-4) went six innings and allowed one hit and walked one while striking out a WCWS career-high 11. Dunne eclipsed the 1,200-strikeout mark for her career, moving to 24th on the NCAA career strikeout list.
“I didn”t realize we had 13 strikeouts, either; that was a surprise,” Murphy said. “Kelsi was awesome. (Assistant coach) Vann (Stuedeman) called a really good game. She hit her spots for the most part. I think after the first couple of innings she was just feeling it out, and then after that I thought she was lights out. Then Jackie (Traina) came in and did what she was supposed to do; she threw strikes. Struck out two of the three. I mean that was a very good pitching performance.”
In her first collegiate at-bat at the WCWS, freshman Kaila Hunt lined a 2-2 pitch down the line in left to score pinch-runner Keima Davis with two outs in the second. Junior Amanda Locke started off the frame with an infield single to short. Davis did the rest as she stole second and third before coming home on the hit.
“I felt pressure. It was my first time,” Hunt said. “This is a huge stage. I mean this is a dream come true for anybody. All week we had talked about not talking this game up. It”s just another game that we are playing, just on a bigger stage. We talked about being fearless, not being afraid of anybody. I had some butterflies going up there, but I got them flying in the right direction as we like to say.”
Sophomore Kayla Braud and Locke paced the Crimson Tide with two hits apiece. The shutout was just the second on the season for California, and the one hit equaled its lowest output on the year.
Alabama won in the WCWS” lowest scoring game in the last 15 contests. The last time teams combined for one run was May 29, 2009, when Florida beat Michigan in game six.
Even though Alabama didn”t have a lot of success against starting pitcher Jolene Henderson, it did enough to improve to 1-6 in first games at the WCWS. Henderson allowed seven hits and a walk and struck out six in six innings. She has 46 strikeouts in 43 postseason innings this season.
“We knew she was a very good pitcher,” Alabama senior shortstop Whitney Larsen said of Henderson. “She has an outstanding ERA and win-loss record. We just wanted to put the ball in play. She throws very hard, so we needed to get our timing down and be prepared for the off speed pitch that she throws. I thought she pitched a great game. As Coach Murphy said, though, we were able to get that timely hit and that”s what we needed.”
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