No. 7 Seeded OSU Drops Opening Game of Women's College Series in 9th Inning by a 3-2 Score to No

OSU junior pitcher Brianne McGowan Photo Courtesy: OSU Communications

OKLAHOMA CITY - The No. 7 seeded Oregon State Beavers suffered a heart-breaking 3-2 loss in the ninth inning against No. 2 seeded University of Arizona on Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the 2006 NCAA Women`s College World Series.

Making their first ever appearance in the WCWS, the Beavers (43-15) suffered their eighth loss of the season by a single run as Arizona (50-10) shortstop Kristi Fox blooped an RBI single into shallow center field to drive in Caitlin Lowe for the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth.

OSU junior pitcher Brianne McGowan (29-8) went the distance and helped her own cause by belting a fifth inning home run to spark the OSU offense after the Beavers fell behind by a 2-0 score.

The Beavers picked up hits in each of the first two innings as seniors Adrienne Alo and Vanessa Iapala earned singles against UA starter Alicia Hollowell (28-4).

Callista Balko led-off the bottom of the second with Arizona`s first hit, but the Beavers recorded a 6-4-3 double-play on the ensuing pitch for their fifth double-play of the postseason.

Three straight two-out singles helped Arizona take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Autumn Champion`s high-chopper to shortstop scored Adrienne Acton from third as the Wildcats picked up a pair of infield singles in the frame. Fox made the score 2-0 when she singled to center field.

McGowan got the Beavers back in it when she belted her ninth home run of the season with a line drive shot over the left field fence.

A major storm moved into the Oklahoma City area and the game was delayed at 1:18 PM CST for 1-hour and 35 minutes due to lightning and heavy rain.

When competition resumed in the bottom of the fifth inning, Arizona got a pair of runners aboard, but McGowan struck out back-to-back batters – Champion and Fox – to end the threat.

Alo registered her third hit of the day in the top of the sixth with a single to center field and came around to score the game-tying run when Beaver freshman Stefanie Ewing reached base on an errant throw to first from Hollowell.

Fellow freshman DeAnn Young stepped to the plate and roped a shot that Arizona`s Jenae Lelas snagged at third base for the final out of the inning.

The Beavers got a runner on base in each of the extra inning frames, but weren`t able to push any runs across the plate.

Oregon State will play another familiar foe on Saturday as the Beavers face No. 6 seeded Arizona State at 9:00 AM PDT. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN. ASU held a 2-1 edge in the regular season series against OSU.

GAME RESULTS:

No. 7 Oregon State – 000 011 000 – 2 5 0

No. 2 Arizona – 002 000 001 – 3 10 3

McGowan and Allen (OSU), Hollowell and Balko (UA). Win – Hollowell (28-4). McGowan (29-8). HR – McGowan (OSU). 2B – Mowatt (UA).

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