Bats having impact for UW team on brink of title

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Like her team, Washington shortstop Jenn Salling is hitting her stride at just the right time.

And "hitting" is the operative word.

In the most offensive softball World Series in the 28-year history of the event, the No. 3-ranked Huskies are way ahead of the pack.

Washington enters Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series against No. 1 Florida here Tuesday with a 1-0 series lead, a .313 batting average and a trawler full of additions to the record book.

"Great players make great things happen," Washington coach Heather Tarr said.

"What's important is that we peak at the right time and get the hits when we need them."

Shortstop Salling's two-run single broke a scoreless tie in an 8-0 victory Monday to keep her postseason batting average at .421, and she is not alone.

Third baseman Morgan Stuart has 10 hits in the Huskies' five games, including a World Series-record four doubles. Stuart, second baseman Ashley Charters and left fielder Kimi Pohlman have hit safely in all five games.

Charters' two-run homer, which put the finishing touch on Monday's victory, was the Huskies' sixth here, tying a team Series record in a year in which there already have been a record 25.

Freshman Niki Williams' three homers have tied a Series record, and her 10 runs batted in are a record. So were her seven RBI in the first game against Georgia on Sunday.

Washington's 74 total bases are, yes, a team record.

"I think we have a good group of really talented athletes who are able to take a season and get better every pitch they see," Tarr said.

Washington (50-12) is attempting to win its first softball championship in its third trip to the finals, losing in to Arizona in 1996 and UCLA in 1999 in a one-game title format.

The Huskies would be the fifth different Pac-10 team to win since 2002 and would extend the league's dominance.

Pac-10 teams have won 21 of the 27 titles and have had at least one team in the last 23 finals. Florida is attempting to become the first SEC team to win one.

The Gators (64-4) were the consensus No. 1 team entering NCAA tournament, but Washington has won both meetings this season behind national player of the year Danielle Lawrie.

Lawrie gave up two hits in a 1-0, nine-inning victory over Florida at the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., Feb. 20, and gave up only two hits again Monday in snapping the Gators' 29-game winning streak.

She has 24 strikeouts in the two games against Florida and has 513 this season, nine away from tying the Pac-10 season record set by Arizona's Taryne Mowatt in 2007.

Salling, like Lawrie, is playing a major role after sitting out the 2008 season to compete for Team Canada in the Olympic Games.

Salling, who became eligible April 2 after fulfilling transfer requirements from Oregon, has hit safely in 13 of her last 14 games while batting .413. She hits third in the order, behind Charters and Pohlman and in front of Lawrie and Stuart.

"It was tough at the beginning," said Salling, who had four hits in her first 40 at-bats before regaining her rhythm at the plate.

"My teammates have helped me immensely. They picked me up when I felt down, picked me up when the confidence was down, picked me up when I didn't know if I was the one that could do the job at that time."