Box Score
HONOLULU - The No. 16 University of Hawai`i softball team (5-1) fell to Long Beach State, 1-0, in the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic finale at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
LBSU pitcher Brooke Turner silenced the vaunted UH offense, limiting them to just two hits while striking out nine Rainbow Wahine and walking none.
Hawai`i's Kate Robinson took the loss, as she fell to 2-1 on the season. In her third complete game of the tournament, she gave up the one run on four hits with two walks and a single strike out.
The 49ers scored the game's only run in the top of the second. With one out, Danielle Linke drove a double to the left-centerfield gap. Jonae Perez followed with a ground ball to the right side of the infield, allowing Linke to advance to third. Then Ashley Weber came through with a single to centerfield to score Linke easily from third.
LBSU won the first game of the day over UCF, 5-0 to advance to the tournament finale. However, after that game, LBSU requested to not play the 4:00 pm "if necessary game" if they beat Hawai`i in the 2:00 pm game because they did not want to play a third game in one day. Thus the tournament went to a 'best record' scenario in which Hawai`i finished on top with a 5-1 mark in the Paradise Classic. LBSU was 4-3, UCF went 3-4, and Kentucky finished 1-5.
UH now hits the road for a couple of weeks as they play in two tournaments. First up is the Palm Springs Classic (Feb. 22-24) where they will face Florida Atlantic, Michigan State, Long Island, UCLA, and the USA National team (as they prepare for the '08 Olympics). The game against the Bruins will be a rematch of last season's NCAA Regional semi-final game in which the 'Bows won, 3-1 in eight innings.
The team will then travel to Las Vegas, Nev. where they play in the Eller Media Stadium Classic hosted by UNLV, Feb. 29-Mar. 2. They will play Western Kentucky, Long Beach State, California, UNLV and Pittsburgh.
All-Tournament team
P - Allison Kime, UCF
INF - Beanne Javier, UCF
INF - Jennifer Griffin, LBSU
INF - Clare Warwick, UH
INF - Jessica Beaver, LBSU
INF - Richie-Anne Titcomb, UH
OF - Lacy Taylor, LBSU
OF - Ashley Van Ryn, UCF
OF - Brandi Peiler, UH
At-Large - Kate Robinson
Most Valuable Pitcher - Coutney Baughman, UH
Most Valuable Player - Tanisha Milca, UH
Earlier games...
UCF 0, LBSU 5
UCF 1, Kentucky 4
