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Date Posted: 09:17:30 03/27/02 Wed
Author: Jon Ralston
Subject: Softball drops two

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Originally Published Wednesday, March 27, 2002
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Two losses, but one big boost

Tigers use long ball to rally against No. 12 Huskies

By Lori Gilbert

Record Staff Writer

Don't expect University of the Pacific's softball players to recall the scores of Tuesday's doubleheader loss to Washington at Bill Simoni Field.

For the record, 12th-ranked Washington prevailed 9-5 and 9-7, but what the 19th-ranked Tigers are going to remember is how they battled back.

Down 6-0 after showing little punch in the first three innings, the Tigers crossed the plate five times after knocking out four home runs in the fourth inning.

Boni Kading opened with a solo shot to right and had barely reached the dugout before Estee Okumura also went deep to right field. With one out, Aloha Yamaguchi took Tia Bollinger deep to left and after Nicole Inouye walked, Michelle Anunciation homered to right.

All this from a team that had hit 12 home runs in its previous 32 games.

"When I went out to play defense, I thought, 'That's impossible,'" Yamaguchi said.

At least it seemed unbelievable to the junior who had never homered in her collegiate career.

"I didn't watch it go," Yamaguchi said. "I was hustling all the way down to first when I heard coach Heather (Tarr) say, 'Touch 'em all.'"

The sophomore Kading started the Tigers' version of Home Run Derby.

"I was not thinking about hitting a home run," Kading said. "I just wanted a base hit. I was the leadoff hitter. I just wanted to do my job."

What she did was spark a comeback that this young team had never seen.

"We've had comebacks here and there, but this was big," Kading said. "We look up to Washington. They're a team we want to beat."

Washington, in its 10th season, has reached postseason play nine consecutive years. Last year it failed to reach the World Series after a string of five consecutive appearances. It was the national runner-up in 1996 and 2000.

This year's team is dominated by freshmen and sophomores, but is 29-8 entering Pac-10 play, having played all but one doubleheader against Simon Fraser on the road.

"They're so young, but when they get some confidence under their belts, they'll be fine," coach Teresa Wilson said. "They have to learn how to take care of business."

Or at least learn what to do once they have taken care of it.

Even after Washington pushed its lead to 9-5 in the second game, Pacific opened the seventh with back-to-back singles and after one was out, got another single to load the bases. Okumura and freshman catcher Ashlie D'Errico walked on full-count pitches to push in two runs before Bollinger got out of the inning, leaving the bases loaded.

"That should be a huge morale booster," UOP coach Brian Kolze said. "They know where they made mistakes and what they did wrong, but they didn't let that affect them on trying to make things right. I'm so proud of them."

A win would have been huge, but the losses didn't seem to devastate the 19th-ranked Tigers (21-12).

"We grew with that one inning," Kading said. "Home run after home run, we picked each other up. We came back, we fought. Whether we win or not, it doesn't matter if we fight."

Pacific tried to fight through in the first game, when ace Cindy Ball struggled. Her fielding error paved the way for two unearned runs, then in the fourth, she walked the bases loaded and gave up a grand slam to Jaime Clark and a solo home run to Kristen Rivera.

"I don't ever remember Cindy having a game like that," Kolze said of his senior who is 12-8. "I'm not worried and I'm sure Cindy isn't worried about it. It's a case where you don't have your best stuff, you're falling behind every hitter, you're having problems throwing strikes, you're not in command of your normal game and you play a team that's going to put the ball in play."

The Huskies were aggressive at the plate, getting eight hits in the first game and 14 in the second.

To reach reporter Lori Gilbert, phone 546-8284 or e-mail lgilbert@recordnet.com

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