Lawrie pitches Washington to victory at softball super regional

ATLANTA — Except for a little wildness and the home run she allowed to her Olympic teammate, Danielle Lawrie could hardly complain about Game 1 of the NCAA Atlanta Super Regional.

But she did, just a little.

Lawrie pitched a four-hitter, struck out 10 and drove in two runs with a double and a single as Washington defeated Georgia Tech 7-1 on Saturday at Mewborn Field.

"Got behind early, walked the leadoff batter, not usually a pattern of mine," Lawrie said. "My changeup was working, but the other pitches I could've located a little better."

Even with just an average day from Lawrie, one of three finalists for national player of the year, Washington (45-11) moved a victory from reaching the Women's College World Series for the ninth time. Georgia Tech (46-14) would need to win two games today, beginning at 10 a.m. PDT, to stop the Huskies.

Tech's Jen Yee, who played with Lawrie and Washington shortstop Jenn Salling on the Canadian Olympic team, walked on five pitches to start the game. Though that was Lawrie's only base on balls allowed, she fell behind in the count more than she liked and later allowed Yee's home run to left-center field in the sixth.

"Yee's a stud," Lawrie said. "Hats off to her. She hit a pitch that got more plate than I should've thrown. I told her, 'Great job.' "

Yee's 16th homer of the season cut Washington's lead to 3-1, but the Huskies scored four runs in the bottom of the inning off Kristen Adkins to settle the issue.

Washington had 14 hits, the most in a seven-inning game since getting 15 against Arizona State on April 4. Five of the hits went for extra bases.

Ashley Charters opened the scoring with a home run in the bottom of the first — her career-high eighth of the season — off Tech freshman Jessica Coan (8-4). Coan had allowed only one run in her previous 24 innings pitched.

"Just a pitch in, right there for me," said Charters, who also drove in a run with a single in the sixth.

Lawrie (36-7) broke her team record for strikeouts in a season, her total of 464 bettering the 457 of her sophomore year. But both she and Huskies coach Heather Tarr agreed it wasn't Lawrie's best effort. Lawrie was coming off a historic 24-strikeout performance in 15 innings in a 6-1 victory over Massachusetts last week.

"Danielle, she pitched all right," Tarr said. "She knows she didn't pitch her best, but tomorrow is another day."

Washington has never won a super regional on an opponent's field. The Huskies advanced in 2007 by winning at home against Alabama. They lost at Michigan in 2005 and at Texas in 2006.