Long Beach Invitational

[NumeroUno]

I would like to welcome oldNlazy to heybucket. I watch a lot of softball from high school to travel ball to JC ball to D-1 softball and some in between and I see oldNlazy covering a lot of games. Thank you for all the games you are covering for all the bucket heads. oldNlazy is the official HB college sports writer

[thor2173]

the UNLV vs Notre Dame game was good. ND tied it up in the bottom of the 7th. it went 9 innings. UNLV won 3-2

[oldNlazy]

Notre Dame is an interesting team. You never quite know what you're going to get but they are always capable of surprising someone. I'll try to catch the Holy War at LMU Tuesday.

[oldNlazy]

The game began early because Pitt had a flight to catch so with springing forward game time was 7:45 on the body clock. I don't know if that affected the UCLA defense but every ground ball was an adventure. For the 1st time in the tournament the run rule was not involved although the final score looked closer than it really was.
Pitt 0 0 0 1 2 0 0=3-3-3
UCLA 0 5 0 0 0 0 x=5-7-4
Carda vs King
Schroeder led off the 1st with a single but she stayed on 1st as the next 3 batters went out in order. The Panthers threatened in the 2nd, reaching on back-to-back errors but Carda worked out of it. All the UCLA offense came in the 2nd as they batted around. Camuso led off with a single and Yudin bunted her over. Fox reached on an error to load the bases and Carda got a seeing eye hit through the left side of the infield to score a run. Snow got an RBI when Fox made a nice slide by just ahead of the throw to the plate. Snow then went all the way to 3rd when the catcher tried to get her but threw it into CF. Schroeder walked and LaRosa's double down the RF line brought in 2 more.

Pitt got a run in the 4th on a double and back-to-back Fox errors but the Bruins threatened in the bottom of the inning. Carda led off with a single and Snow doubled over first base. With 2 outs LaRosa walked to load the bases but that was as far as it got. Sevilla led off the Panther 5th with a single and for the 2nd time Carda hit a batter with a pitch that was bouncing through the batter's box, With 2 outs she wild pitched the runners to 2nd and 3rd and King brought them both in with a single to center. Hall came in to pitch the 6th and 7th and picked up the save allowing only 1 walk.

[oldNlazy]

When a team that scores a lot (UCLA) meets a team that allows a lot of runs (Utah St) a pitchers' duel is the last thing you expect. But that's exactly what you got as the teams were held to 3 hits total. The Bruins never looked like losing the lead but funny things can happen.
Utah St 0 0 0 0 0 0 0=0-1-0
UCLA 0 1 0 1 0 0 x=2-3-0
Carda vs Tuteca
Carda gave up a walk in the 1st and an IF hit in the 4th while striking out 6. Hall relieved in the 6th and got the save by retiring all 6 batters, 4 of them on strikes.The Bruins took the lead in the 2nd on a walk, stolen base and Camuso's double to center. In the 5th Bates led off with a single but was called out for interference on Camuso's grounder. Given a second chance Slammin' Sammy blasted it over the CF fence. FRom there the next 8 Bruins made out but Hall made the 2 runs stand up.

[oldNlazy]

The final game of the tournament saw Erin Jones-Wesley's 2nd gem in a row as Long Beach St tried to continue a 2 day turnaround.
CSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0=0
LB St 1 0 0 2 0 2 x=5
Things looked promising for Charleston Southern in the 1st as a double and Long Beach error put 2 on with only 1 out but Jones-Wesley got the next 2 batters and the threat was over. A Buc error with 2 outs opened the door for the beach and they stepped right through. Booker walked and St Germain's single put the home team on the board. An inability to sacrifice cost the Bucs in the 2nd. The bunt turned into a force out at 2nd so when Steele followed with a double it didn't score the run. Long Beach used a walk and a Buc error to put 2 on in the 2nd but couldn't get a clutch hit.

The Beach put together a 2-out rally in the 4th. Denio singled up the middle and Neal beat out an infield hit. The 2nd baseman knocked down Kimbrough's grounder but couldn't make a play. Dowdy came in to pitch and DeGaetano's hard grounder, which perhaps should have been caught, went off the 3rd baseman's glove for 2 runs. CSU put 2 runners on in the 5th but again Jones-Wesley got tough when she needed to. LB St completed the scoringin the 6th playing small ball. Denio walked and stole 2nd and Kimbrough singled off the shortstop's glove. DeGaetano drove in 1 with a sac fly and pinch hitter Tyler's IF hit brought home the 2nd.

[NORCALGOLD]

Oldnlazy,
It looks like you were at most of the games at Long Beach this weekend. What were some of the better teams or players you saw that stood out, what team surprised you.

[oldNlazy]

Maldanado and Winter from ND. King from Pitt. Foulkes from NC. Santana from Oregon St.
I only saw ND 1 game but they looked very good that game. Oregon St generally played well and Pitt was perhaps the biggest surprise if only because they were an unknown factor.

[17Cards]

Maldanado and Winter from ND. King from Pitt. Foulkes from NC. Santana from Oregon St.
I only saw ND 1 game but they looked very good that game. Oregon St generally played well and Pitt was perhaps the biggest surprise if only because they were an unknown factor.

Pitt is on the rise. Coach and staff are working real hard.
King is doing a real nice job thus far. Conference play will be fun to watch this year.

[AlwaysImprove]

I would like to welcome oldNlazy to heybucket. I watch a lot of softball from high school to travel ball to JC ball to D-1 softball and some in between and I see oldNlazy covering a lot of games. Thank you for all the games you are covering for all the bucket heads. oldNlazy is the official HB college sports writer

Yes, thanks olnNlazy. I wish I could get to more games, but I have been enjoying reading your reports.