May 18, 2001
LOS ANGELES - Freshman center fielder Joann Figueroa singled home freshman Shannon Flynn with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as fourth-seeded San Diego State defeated fifth-seeded Wisconsin 1-0 at Easton Stadium in the NCAA regional.
The Aztec victory also made a winner of senior right-handed pitcher Sandra Durazo, who pitched her fourth one-hitter in the last nine calendar days, means a showdown with the only other undefeated in the region, top-seeded and second-ranked UCLA on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PDT.
"It couldn't have been a more exciting game," Aztec coach Kathy Van Wyk said. "It was a classic pitchers dual and we were lucky enough to come out on top. The freshman came through in the clutch "
Figueroa, who had struck out in three previous plate appearances, fell behind in the count, 0-2, before singling to left-center field, scoring pinch runner Flynn from second.
"I learned a lot from those first three at bats," Figueroa said. "She got ahead in the count and I thought she would try and strike me out because she had earlier. I adjusted to her rise ball and was able to foul a couple of pitches off and that helped."
Sophomore designated player Kristina Kirk opened the Aztec seventh with a base hit and was replaced by the freshman pinch runner Flynn. Junior catcher Brooke Johnson sacrificed Flynn to second base. Following a strike out, Figueroa provided the two-out dramatics.
Durazo once again held the opposition in check. The senior added to her school-record for victories in a season by recording her 29th win, a one-hit shutout, issuing just two walks while striking out nine. Only once did she allow a runner past first base. That was in the fourth inning when the Badgers' Jade Gosse led off the frame with a single before being stranded at third base.
Wisconsin starter Andrea Kirchberg was nearly as good, surrendering five hits and issuing three walks while striking out nine Aztec batters. Kirchberg, enjoyed only one inning without a base runner, but pitched effectively enough to strand seven Aztec base runners on the day.
The Aztecs, which won for the 10th time in 12 outings, are now 40-23 on the season.
(4) San Diego State 1, (5) Wisconsin 0
Wisconsin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 0San Diego State 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 5 0Andrea Kirchberg and Nicki Starry. Sandra Durazo and Brooke Johnson. W - Sandra Durazo (29-13). LP - Andrea Kirchberg (22-12). S - none.
LOB - San Diego State 7, Wisconsin 3. 2B - none. 3B - none. HR - none. SB - SDSU: Tiffany Goudy. CS - none. SH - UW: Diana Consolmagno. SDSU: Sarah Hershman, Brooke Johnson, Summer Ehrsam. SF - none.
T - 2:02. A - TBA.
NCAA Regional, Los Angeles, Calif. Seed No. 2 - May 17-20 at Los Angeles
May 17Game 2: (5) Wisconsin 3, (2) Fresno State 1 (9 innings)Game 3: (4) San Diego State 2, (3) Cal State Northridge 0Game 1: (1) UCLA 8, (6) Coastal Carolina 0 (5 innings)Game 4: (2) Fresno State 6, (6) Coastal Carolina 4 (Coastal Carolina eliminated)May 18Game 5: (3) Cal State Northridge 3, (2) Fresno State 1 (Fresno State eliminated)Game 6: (4) San Diego State 1, (5) Wisconsin 0Game 7: (1) UCLA 9, (3) Cal State Northridge 0 (Cal State Northridge eliminated)May 19 Game 8: (5) Wisconsin, byeGame 9: (1) UCLA vs. (4) San Diego State, 12:30 p.m.Game 10: (5) Wisconsin vs. UCLA/San Diego State loser, 3 p.m.May 20 Game 11: Championship Game 1, 12:30 p.m.Game 12: Championship Game 2 (if necessary), 3 p.m.