Seattle, WA - The Washington Huskies hit a snag in their postseason plans during day two of the Seattle Regional, but found their footing later that day. In their second game of the postseason, Washington saw a late inning meltdown give them a loss to the Texas Longhorns. Playing a few hours later, the Huskies were able to defeat the Lehigh Mountain Hawks behind four solo homers and RBI-base hits by Kinsey Fiedler and Baylee Klingler. With that bounce back victory, Washington will face Texas in a rematch to decide who advances to the Super Regional.
A view of Husky Softball Field prior to Huskies vs Longhorns
Game one: Late inning collapse dooms Huskies against Texas
In their first game of May 21st, 2022, Washington got out to a solid start. A two-run homer by Baylee Klingler got the game rolling, and Gabbie Plain pitched five scoreless innings. The sixth inning is when things escalated quickly, and not in a positive way for the Huskies. Gabbie Plain had loaded the bases with a single and two walks to the first three batters. The next two batters, Mary Iakopo and Alyssa Washington, struck out and it looked like Plain would be able to work out of the loaded bases. Texas first baseman Katie Cimusz came to the plate, and things went all downhill from there.
Washington's top of the 6th ended up dooming them
Cimusz's "routine ground ball" bounced towards Baylee Klingler at short, and she made an error, rare for her as she was named to the All-Pac-12 defensive team. Two runs scored, and the Longhorns had the lead. Lauren Burke came in to pinch hit, and she singled. Her single turned into a double on an error, and Texas had a 3-2 lead. Pat Moore would come in, and finish the inning. In the top of the seventh, the Longhorns put two runners on through a dropped third strike and an infield single. Three base hits and a hit by pitch later, and the Texas lead had ballooned to 8-2. The Huskies failed to do anything in the bottom of the 7th, and they would lose.
Washington had a prime opportunity to add to their lead in the third inning, with runners on second and third and one out. They squandered that, similar to our Seattle Mariners, and never did anything dangerous on offense again. You can't blame Plain for the scoring either, as the errors behind her ruined the opportunity for Washington to walk into the Final. Instead, they had to face Lehigh in a rematch of their first game in order to decide who would face Texas.
Game two: Boom sticks come out for Washington to defeat Lehigh
In their second game of the day, Washington was looking to rebound. It didn't necessarily matter how they did it, but they needed a victory. Things started off quickly for the Huskies as Madi Huskey hit a solo homer to get things started. There was a sort of stalemate between the two teams, as they shared just two hits until about the 5th inning. Solo homers continued to be the name of the game as Sarah Willis and Kinsey Fiedler hammered the ball to right and center field respectively.
Lehigh would add a run in the bottom of the 6th, but Washington slammed the door shut in the top of the 7th with a Kelley Lynch solo homer, a Kinsey Fiedler RBI triple, and Baylee Klingler RBI single. Sarah Willis through a hitless frame, and Washington won 6-1.
Washington has shown consistency issues in the last few weeks as they headed into the postseason. Their offseason has been non-existent for the majority of games, and pitching outside of Gabbie Plain has been spotty. They will need to find their stride to not only beat Texas, but also make a deep postseason run. They continue that quest at 3PM PST when they face Texas in a rematch. The Huskies must win two games on Sunday in order to advance to the Super Regionals next week to face the winner of the Fayetteville Regional. The first game will be streamed on ESPN+
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