(Photo Courtesy of Washington Athletics)
EMPE, Ariz. – The No. 3 Washington Huskies put together one of their most complete games of the season in defeating 2013 National Champions and the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners, 3-1, on Sunday at the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
The Huskies (10-0) got 7.0 innings from Bryana Walker, who struck out a career-high 14 batters, and held the Sooners (5-4) to just three hits. Walker’s previous high for strikeouts was 13, set on May 17, 2013 vs. Portland State. The 14 strikeouts for the Sooners was their most this season.
“Bryana’s a very strategic pitcher,” head coach Heather Tarr said. “She knows what she needs to throw to certain hitters. She was throwing a pretty good game. She was dominant today.”
Walker (6-0) was making her fourth consecutive start in the circle and earned her 26th career complete-game and her fourth already this season.
The Huskies went 5-0 at the Littlewood Classic, defeating Illinois State, 9-1, and San Jose State, 18-1, on Friday. The Huskies shutout their opponents on Saturday, routing Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 17-0, and topping Michigan State, 8-0. The Huskies completed the sweep with their 3-1 victory over Oklahoma on Sunday.
The Sooners struck first on Sunday, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd on a bases-loaded error.
The Huskies quickly re-captured the lead in the bottom of the 2nd. With one out, Courtney Gano walked and Kelli Suguro doubled to send Gano to 3rd base. Victoria Hayward and Ali Aguilar then followed with back-to-back RBI singles, giving the Huskies a 2-1 advantage.
With the Huskies looking for an insurance run in the bottom of the 5th Kylee Lahners blasted a solo home run to give the Huskies a 3-1 lead. For Lahners, it was her 6th home run and 26th RBI of the season.
“Kylee hit the ball hard all weekend and took great at-bats,” Tarr said. “It was good to see her put together quality at-bats the whole weekend.”
The Huskies had a base hit in every inning on Sunday vs. Oklahoma.
The Huskies (10-0) will return to the field on Thursday, Feb. 20 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Spring, Calif. The Huskies will play five games over three days, beginning with the Maryland Terrapins (1-9) on Feb. 20 at 3:00 p.m. and the No. 21 LSU Tigers (7-3) later that day at 5:30 p.m. The Huskies will face the No. 15 Texas Longhorns (6-6) on Friday, Feb. 21 at 10:30 a.m.
