FresnoStateSoftball.org
May 15, 2003

Bulldogs Blank Beach
Fresno State starts Regional action hitting trees

Fresno State started the 2003 Regional on the right foot, riding two long, long balls and a shutout to victory Thurdsay morning.

Jamie Southern scattered five hits, walked none, and struck out eight in her 15th shutout of the season. Only one 49er went past second base, on a double and single in the seventh inning.

Southern also provided most of the offense, as well. In the first inning, She hit a ball that was ticketed for Cedar Avenue, thrown back by the ash tree behind bleacher #1 in left field. That gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead, Christina Clark was aboard, having led off the inning with a single up the middle.

Christina Clark made the score 3-0 in the sixth, leading off the inning with a tree shot of her own, into the same tree that Southern hit her home run. Clark's home run was her 15th of the campaign, tying her with Michelle Bolt for the single-season school record.

Meredith Cervinka took the loss for Long Beach. She gave up 3 singles besides the 2 home runs, walked none, and struck out four. Her record fell to 15-9.

Next: The Bulldogs face UCLA Friday at 12:30 pm. If Fresno State wins, they play Saturday at 2:30. If they lose, their next game is Friday at 8:00 pm.

Long Beach State-	000 000 0-	0-5-1
Fresno State-	200 001 x-	3-5-0
WP-Jamie Southern (23-10) LP- Meredith Cerveka (15-9)

Links: Box Score | Fresno State Recap | Long Beach Recap | Fresno Bee

In other regional games:

UCLA mercied Colgate 8-0 in six innings. UCLA's Keira Goerl and Michelle Turner combined for a perfect game, and Claire Sua was 4-for-4.

Michigan State mercied UNC 9-1 in five innings. Michigan State scored eight times in the fourth inning to put that game away. The Spartans' Jessica Beech improved her record to 26-9.

Georgia defeated Long Island 5-1. Georgia scored twice in the first inning on no hits and four Blackbird errors.

The nightcap, the first elimination game between Long Beach and Colgate (that's 49ers vs. Raiders, for you football fans), was a pitchers' duel between Kate Howard for Colgate and Lindsey Knoff for the Beach for seven innings. Long Beach scored once in the top of the eighth inning on a single by Colleen Burdick to eliminate Colgate from the regional.