Alabama
Arizona State
Tide Softball Season Ends With Loss to ASU, 3-1
6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 1, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - A three-run home run by Arizona State's Jackie Vasquez was the undoing of Alabama's 2008 season as the Sun Devils qualified for the Women's College World Series National Championship Series with a 3-1 win in front of 6,781 fans Sunday afternoon at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
Alabama's Kelsi Dunne (26-6) allowed just two hits while dropping her second game of the week to the Sun Devils. She worked six innings with six strikeouts and just one walk, but hit batters in the third inning that led to all three Sun Devil runs.
Katie Burkhart (38-5) limited Crimson Tide hitters to one run on just two hits - singles from Brittany Rogers and Jordan Praytor. She struck out nine and issued just two walks.
The Crimson Tide finished the season with a 58-8 record, achieving the highest winning percentage (.879) in school history. ASU (64-5) will play the winner of Sunday night's Texas A&M-Florida game for the national title beginning on Monday, June 2.
Senior Jordan Praytor staked the Crimson Tide to a 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI single to left field in the third inning. Praytor's hit on an 0-2 pitch scored Kellie Eubanks who reached base after getting hit by a pitch.
ASU answered back in the bottom half of the third with the big blow coming on a two-out, three-run home run by slap-hitting left fielder Jackie Vasquez. The home run came after two hit batters put runners on in front of Vasquez.
Notes
• Alabama finished tied for third in the WCWS with a 2-2 record, the Tide's best performance in five WCWS appearances.
• Brittany Rogers extended her hitting streak to 19 games in the first at-bat of the game with a single up the middle.
• With Sunday's result, the Alabama-Arizona State series is tied at four wins apiece.
• The Crimson Tide is now 4-10 in 14 WCWS games spanning five appearances.
