May 29, 2008
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Urfer ESPN postgame interview
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - In a wild and crazy Game Three of the Women's College World Series, the sixth-seeded Sun Devils showed they were there to stay as they rattled off a come-from-behind win in the seventh inning for a 3-1 win with the star's of the show being the freshmen, Lesley Rogers and Mandy Urfer as well as Katie Burkhart's amazing three-hit, 13 strikeouts outing to give ASU their 62nd win of the year. ASU is now 62-5 overall as they win their third WCWS opening game in program history. Alabama falls to 56-7 and look to face the loser of Game 4 on Saturday.
The game ironically turned out to be a pitching duel as the two most potent offenses in the nation were shutdown by Katie Burkhart and Kelsi Dunne as they went head-to-head in the circle, keeping it scoreless through five before `Bama decided to make the move in the fifth after a walk put Jordan Praytor on where she was then belted home by Charlotte Morgan who lifted an RBI-double to left center as the Crimson Tide took the 1-0 lead.
The Sun Devil offense couldn't seem to make it happen though as they left 12 on base through six innings while only getting two hits in six full. While the Sun Devils got backed into a corner going into the seventh, they came into the inning calm as Kaitlin Cochran took her third intentional walk of the game to lead off where she saw Krista Donnenwirth bunt her to second where Lesley Rogers came out to be the star again as she dug herself an 0-2 hole before launching a double to left center to knot it again at 1-1.
Renee Welty came in with an out against the Devils before getting hit by a pitch to take first, placing runners on first and second. The Sun Devil rookies weren't done yet though as freshman Mandy Urfer came in an ripped the first pitch she saw down the left line where it was ruled fair after touching the third baseman's glove which saw Rogers and Welty score to push it to a 3-1 that was never relinquished.
Clint Myers spoke about his team's come-from-behind stating, "This was a great game between two great teams. It was great pitching and we had a really clutch hit by Mandy. The freshmen really came through. When you have great pitching like we did, it gives you a great chance to win."
The Sun Devils now advance to the winner's bracket where they'll face the two-seeded UCLA Bruins tomorrow night at 8 p.m. CT and 6 PT.