OKLAHOMA CITY — Sara Fitzgerald scored on a pair of throwing errors in the bottom of the 13th inning Thursday, giving LSU a 3-2 victory over Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Women’s College World Series. LSU will play defending champion UCLA today at noon. Fitzgerald singled for LSU with two outs and moved to second when Camille Harris beat out an infield single to shortstop Jessica Merchant. Fitzgerald moved to third when Merchant’s throw got away from first baseman Jennifer Olds and scored when catcher Monica Schock couldn’t handle right fielder Courtney Betley’s throw home. Fitzgerald had stopped at third before Betley made her throw. Grace Leutele hit a two-run home run to left field in the top of the 12th inning to give Michigan (54-12) a 2-0 lead. The Tigers (55-10) came back to tie the game on an RBI single by Leigh Ann Danos and a passed ball by Schock. “We answer back all the time," LSU pitcher Kristin Schmidt said at a press conference after the game. “Sometimes someone else scores and we always have a way to answer right back. That’s the epitome of our team. That’s what we do best.” Schmidt threw all 13 innings for LSU. Michigan will play Stanford in the loser’s bracket on Saturday at 9 a.m.
OKLAHOMA 6, WASHINGTON 2: Oklahoma scored four runs in the first inning and took a lead it would never relinquish. Oklahoma’s Mariee Mena drove in two runs on a single with two outs in the first inning to give the Sooners a 4-1 lead. Oklahoma pitcher Kami Keiter pitched all seven innings for the Sooners, striking out five. Oklahoma will play California today in the winner’s bracket at 4 p.m. Washington will play Florida State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
CALIFORNIA 4, FLORIDA STATE 2: A Jessica Pamanian two-run triple in the third inning led California to a win Thursday night. Cal’s Kristina Thorson pitched all seven innings while striking out 12.
From Bruin staff and wire reports, with reports from The Associated Press.