By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The Washington Huskies got a regional opening win over the Lehigh Nighthawks with late offensive firepower. Washington won 9-2, as eight of their runs came after the middle of the fifth inning. With the win, the Huskies all-time record at home in the postseason bumps to 68-3. Washington defeats Lehigh in the first contest between the two programs.
Kelley Lynch started the game for Washington (Photo Paul Hamaker)
Washington Offense wakes up late
The Husky offense had not hit the nine-run mark since their win over Utah Valley back on May 2nd. The Washington bats had been relatively quiet in their last two series of the season, against Utah and Arizona State respectively. A Jenn Cummings solo homer got the scoring started and put the Huskies on the board in the third inning. In the fifth, the bats came alive as Washington plated five runs. Kinsey Fiedler led the half inning off with a solo shot, Jadelyn Allchin hot a mammoth three-run homer, and SilentRain Espinoza hit an RBI Single to score Angie Yellen. In the bottom of the sixth, Baylee Klingler slammed a three-run homer, putting the nail in the coffin. Klingler, who had struggled in the Arizona State series, helped close out Lehigh and hopefully got back on track.
Left fielder Sami Reynolds went 2-4 on the day (Photo Paul Hamaker)
Huskies use three pitchers
Washington started junior pitcher Kelley Lynch against Lehigh, as it seemed head coach Heather Tarr wanted to save Gabbie Plain for day two. That would not be the case, as Lynch went 3.1 innings, but did not give up any earned runs. The runs Lehigh scored came on a total of four errors that the Husky defense made. Pat Moore would come in to relieve Lynch, and Plain eventually came in to pitch the final 2.2 innings of the game. It will be interesting to see who takes the mound for Washington in game two, and how long that pitcher throws for.
Gabbie Plain came in and pitched 2.2 innings of relief (Photo Paul Hamaker)
With the win, the Huskies will play the winner of the first game in the Seattle Regional, the Texas Longhorns. The Huskies and Longhorns meet on Saturday, May 21st with a 2PM PST first pitch.
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