University of Washington
1-0
Southern Illinois
0-1
Stuart and Macon Earn MVP Honors as Huskies Win Hawaii Tournament
March 09, 2008 | Softball
March 9, 2008
HONOLULU - Freshmen Morgan Stuart and Aleah Macon earned tournament MVP honors and the No. 22 Washington Huskies defeated No. 15 Hawaii, 8-6, to win the title of the Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament.
Stuart hit .526 with two doubles, two home runs and a tournament-high 12 RBI to earn the MVP award, while Macon was named the tournament's top pitcher after going 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched. Junior outfielder Marnie Koziol was also named to the all-tournament team after hitting .526 with eight runs scored and three stolen bases.
The Huskies defeated Southern Illinois, 9-0, in five-innings on Sunday morning to advance to the title game, where they downed Hawaii for the second time in two days.
In the championship game Stuart hit 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, Alyson McWherter was 2-for-3, Bailey Stenson was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Alicia Blake hit a three-run home run in the first inning.
Macon (7-3) gave up eight hits, four earned runs and three walks while striking out three in seven innings.
The Huskies struck first in the title game on Blake's three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning and added single runs in the third and fourth inning, while the Rainbow Wahine brought a run across the plate in the third.
Washington led 5-1 going into the sixth inning, but Hawaii scored five runs in the inning, taking advantage of three Husky errors and also getting four hits in the inning.
The Huskies responded right back in the bottom of the inning, scoring three runs to go up 8-6.
McWherter and Amanda Fleischman led off with back-to-back singles to get things started. With one out, Koziol lined a single into left field that got past Hawaii's Brandi Peiler. McWherter scored from second and Fleischman came around to score from first, with Koziol moving up to third on the play. Stuart later doubled to right center to plate Koziol for the final run.
Macon got the first two Hawaii batters out in the top of the seventh before issuing a walk to Malamaisaua Manuma. But she got Richie-Anne Titcomb to strikeout looking to end the game.
In the morning game against SIU, Stuart hit 2-for-3 with three RBI and hit a two-run home run. Stenson hit 2-for-3 and Jace Williams went 2-for-3 with four RBI.
Macon gave up just one hit in five innings, walking two and striking out eight.
Washington led 4-0 after three innings before erupting for five innings in the fourth inning, with Williams delivering a two-RBI single and Stuart hitting a monster two-run home run over the left centerfield fence.
All seven of the Husky players that started all six games hit over .333 in the tournament. In addition to both Koziol and Stuart hitting .526, Bailey Stenson hit .476, Fleischman hit .455, McWherter hit .375, Blake hit .357 and Williams hit .333.
The Huskies are now 16-6-1 and head to Portland next weekend for four games. They open with a 6 p.m. game against Northern Illinois on Friday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Macon, Aleah (1-0)
L: Waters (0-1)
Base Running:
SB: Wilson 1
Batting:
2B: Williams, Jace 1
HR: Stuart, Dani 1
RBI: Williams, Jace 3 ; Stuart, Dani 3 ; Watson, Ashlyn 1
SF: Watson, Ashlyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stenson, Bailey 2 ; Koziol, Marnie 3 ; Williams, Jace 2 ; Stuart, Dani 1 ; Hester, Dru 1
SB: Stenson, Bailey 1 ; Koziol, Marnie 2
