Justus Prevails

5/11/2012 10:16:00 PM

Hannah Justus

Box Score

SAN ANGELO, Texas (May 11) – The Bronchos did it again!

No. 2-ranked Central Oklahoma pulled out yet another dramatic late-inning win here Friday night, getting a run-scoring single from Hannah Justus in the top of the ninth inning to trim No. 8 Angelo State 1-0 in the first game of the NCAA Division II South Central Super Regional.

The Bronchos, who won three come-from-behind games in the South Central Regional II Tournament last weekend, got a gutsy complete-game pitching outing from Rachael Steverson and played excellent defense to prevail in the standoff between two of the best hitting teams in the country.

UCO improved to 43-6 while dropping the Rambelles to 47-10 in moving one step closer to the Division II World Series. The second game of the best-of-three series is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at the ASU Softball Complex, with the “if necessary” game to follow at approximately 4:30.

Click here for UCO's tournament guide. Click here for the tournament website, which will include a live stats link and live video webcast link.

The winner of the South Central Super Regional advances to next week's eight-team Division II World Series in Louisville, Ky.

"Rachael did a great job, but she had a lot of help and that's what we're about," UCO coach Genny Stidham said. "It was a big win for us and we're excited about it, but we still have to win one more."

The teams entered the day with a combined 134 home runs, with Bronchos ranked third in hitting (.360) and fourth in runs per game (7.33) while ASU was eighth in average (.346) and third in runs (7.41). And still it took extra innings to score the game's only run.

UCO finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the top of the ninth, stringing together three of its eight hits.

Nathalie Timmermans started the inning with a single up the middle and went to second on Kacie Edwards' sacrifice bunt before Megan Whitmire singled through the right side to put runners on first and third.

The Rambelles got Brittany Weaver on a grounder to first that moved Whitmire to second and kept Timmermans on third before Justus came through. The switch-hitting sophomore took a ball and a strike batting from the right side, then moved to the left and blooped a hit just over the third baseman to plate Timmermans.

Steverson put ASU down in order in the bottom of the ninth to polish off the win. The Rambelles finished with 11 hits and had several scoring opportunities, but Steverson and her defensive mates kept the Rambelles at bay.

The senior right-hander (25-5) got a pair of groundouts in the first inning after ASU put runners at first and third with one out and then induced the Rambelles into a routine groundout and long fly ball in the third with a pair of runners on base.

ASU's first two batters reached to start the fourth before shortstop Hannah Justus made three straight defensive plays to end that threat, with Steverson fanning the clean-up hitter and Justus making another assist in the fifth after the Rambelles put runners on first and second with one out.

The Bronchos also turned double plays in both the sixth and seventh innings to get out of innings, with Justus, second baseman Weaver and first baseman Whitmire teaming up for both those defensive gems.

ASU put two runners on again in the eighth with two outs before third baseman Macy McKay made the inning-ending defensive play.

UCO's best scoring chance before the ninth came in top of the seventh when Whitmire and Weaver had back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on first and second, but the Rambelles got a pop-up and strikeout to end the threat.

The Bronchos also had two runners on in the second after Whitmire drew a one-out walk and Weaver followed with a single through the left side, with both advancing on a passed ball before ASU got the final two outs.

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