Saugus High graduate Mariah Lopez didn’t pitch for the University of Oklahoma in game one of the Women’s College World Series best-of-three championship series Monday night.
But after sitting on the bench for the equivalent of nearly two and a half games, the Sooners may very well need her today or Wednesday.
Oklahoma beat Florida 7-5 in 17 innings Monday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Sooner Paige Lowary pitched 10 1/3 innings of two-run ball, while teammate Paige Parker allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Lopez, a freshman, last pitched on May 27 in Oklahoma’s Super Regional clinching win over Auburn.
She tossed 2 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits. She struck out three and walked none. She has a 1.84 ERA on the year.
Oregon
The Ducks moved to within a couple wins of reaching the Women’s College World Series championship finals over the weekend. But Oklahoma had other ideas.
The then-unbeaten Sooners beat Oregon by a 4-2 score on Sunday in the Bracket 2 final.
The Ducks needed to beat Oklahoma twice to reach the championship series.
West Ranch High grad Lauren Lindvall went 1-for-3 with a double in the Ducks’ final game.
She finished 2-for-13 at the World Series overall. The Ducks lost to Washington, 3-1, in Thursday’s opener, then beat Baylor (7-4) and LSU (4-1) to reach Sunday’s final.
Lindvall, a junior, finished the season with a .260 batting average. She hit three home runs and drove in 25 runs.
LSU
The excitement incited by a 2-1 win over UCLA in the World Series opener on Thursday slowed on Friday and came to a halt Saturday when Louisiana State lost to Florida (7-0) and Oregon (4-1), respectively.
Canyon High grad Amanda Doyle went 0-for-8 over the three games for LSU. For the season, the freshman started in 60 games and hit .236 with four home runs and 26 RBIs.
UCLA
Saugus High graduate Madeline Jelenicki and the Bruins staved off elimination Saturday with an 8-2 win over Texas A&M.
Later in the day, though, UCLA fell 1-0 to Washington, ending its stay at the Women’s College World Series.
Jelenicki, a junior, went 0-for-9 over the three games. She hit .323 for the season, with 15 home runs and 69 RBIs.
NCAA Division 1 baseball
University of Arizona
The Wildcats, national runners-up a year ago, lost twice to Sam Houston State in the Lubbock Regional over the weekend to fall out of the tournament.
West Ranch grad JC Cloney, a hero in the Cats’ 2016 postseason run, took the loss in Friday’s 5-4 setback.
The lefty pitched seven innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits. He struck out five and walked none.
Valencia High grad Jared Oliva, recently named one of 25 semifinalists for the Gregg Olson Award, given to the national breakout player of the year, went 1-for-5 with an RBI Friday.
He went 1-for-5, again, Saturday in a 6-5 win over Delaware and then went 1-for-4 in Sunday’s 9-3 loss to Sam Houston.
Valencia grad Luke Soroko pitched two-thirds of an inning of relief in Arizona’s final game. He allowed no runs, striking out one and allowing one hit.
UCLA
The Bruins’ postseason stay lasted only two games.
UCLA lost to Texas, 3-2, on Friday and San Diego State, 3-2, in 13 innings on Saturday in the Long Beach Regional.
West Ranch High grad Jake Bird took the loss on Saturday, despite 4 2/3 solid innings of relief.
The righty allowed one run (unearned) on two hits. He struck out three and walked none.
San Diego State
The Aztecs sandwiched a win over UCLA between two losses to Long Beach State in the Long Beach Regional.
Valencia grad Chad Bible, diagnosed with cancer on Jan. 10, according to a story on the San Diego Union Tribune’s website, did not record any stats.
