Northridge, Kansas Duel for 15 Innings, Settle for Draw

The softball rule makers have done their best.

First they moved back the pitcher’s circle, hoping the extra distance to the plate might help produce more offense.

Then, this season, they legislated the use of a juiced-up ball, one seemingly wound tighter than the average golf ball.

But if softball officials really want to add punch to what historically has been a Punch-and-Judy game, they might as well go to extremes.

They simply should ban pitchers such as Kathy Blake and Stephani Williams.

Blake and Williams matched each other pitch for pitch--a total of 402 to be exact--as seventh-ranked Cal State Northridge and 13th-ranked Kansas battled to a four-hour, 15-inning, 1-1 tie Tuesday in a nonconference game at Matador Field.

The Matadors and the Jayhawks were supposed to play a doubleheader. Instead, they played two games in one. For the first seven innings, Kansas had the upper hand. In the final eight, Northridge had the most chances.

But at the end, with dusk approaching, both coaches were quick to settle for a tie.

The runs were scored in the first two innings. Katie Morgan opened the game by hitting Blake’s first pitch into left-center field for a single. A sacrifice bunt moved her to second and she scored from there on a two-out double to left by Krissy Carpenter, a former Hart High standout.

Northridge (19-3-1) evened the count when Shannon Jones led off the bottom of the second by hitting a hanging rise ball over the left-field fence for her fourth home run.

Jones’ blast was the second of four Northridge hits in the first seven innings. Meanwhile, Kansas (7-3-1) had Blake bobbing and weaving. In her first seven innings, the sophomore from Paso Robles allowed nine hits but stranded 11 runners.

“Her (pitches were) hanging,” Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson said. “Kathy likes to pitch a lot. Maybe I’m not throwing her enough.”

Against the Jayhawks, Blake’s effectiveness grew with her workload. In the late innings, on the advice of pitching assistant Janet Sherman, Blake threw fewer drop pitches and relied more on her rise pitch.

Kansas failed to adjust, generating only three hits in the final eight innings.

Northridge, which today will meet Ohio State in the opening round of pool play in the PONY Tournament at Cal State Fullerton, had several chances to break the deadlock.

The Matadors’ best opportunities came in the 10th and 12th innings, but each time Williams struck out freshman Scia Maumausolo to end the threat. In the 10th, Northridge had two runners on with none out and still could not score.

Jayhawk shortstop Morgan recorded the first out of the inning by diving to her left to snag a line drive by Jen Fleming. Williams induced Beth Calcante to pop up to third baseman Kim Newbern for the second out, then intentionally walked Tamara Ivie to get to Maumausolo.

Maumausolo had struck out in her four previous at-bats, and she fanned again, on four pitches.

In the 12th, Torgeson ordered Calcante, Northridge’s top run producer, to sacrifice with one out and a runner at first. The bunt succeeded, but Williams intentionally walked Ivie to get to Maumausolo.