April 19, 1997
Washington Tops Cal Softball
SEATTLE - Becky Newbry hit a grand slam home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to power the No. 6 Washington softball team to a 9-1 victory over No. 22 California in front of 464 rain-soaked fans in Pac-10 conference action at Husky Softball Stadium Saturday.
The game was called by officials after the sixth inning, because of rain, and the second game of the scheduled doubleheader was cancelled. UW improves to 29-10 overall and 3-4 in the Pac-10 while California drops to 27-19, 8-9.
Along with Newbry's home run, her sixth of the season, the Huskies collected 10 hits on the day. Sara Pickering was 2-for-2, Leah Francis was 2-for-3 with a double and Heather Tarr added a triple to the UW offensive attack.
Cal's Jenny Ackley hit an RBI-single to score Magumi Takasaki in the first frame and the Bears held a 1-0 lead through three innings. The Huskies produced three runs in the fourth when Francis singled to drive in the first and then junior pitcher Eve Gaw, who moved into the lineup for the first time in her career two weeks ago, singled to drive in two more. Tarr added two runs on her triple in the fifth inning, to increase the Husky lead to 5-1, before Newbry finished the game on her grand slam in the sixth.
Gaw earned the victory and improved her record to 10-5, while holding the Bears to one hit and striking out three in five innings. Jamie Graves threw the final inning for the Huskies. Holly Yost (20-14) went the distance for California.
Washington 9, California 1
California 100 000 - 1 1 1
Washington 000 324 - 9 10 0
UW: Gaw, Graves (6) and Newbry. Cal: Yost and Takasaki. 2B: Francis (UW). 3B: Tarr (UW). HR: Newbry (UW).
WP: Gaw (10-5). LP: Yost (20-14).
