Nebraska 0 No. 2 seed

vs.

Arizona State 1 No. 3 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
Arizona State (39-25)		0	0	0		0	0	0		1		1	7	0
Nebraska (32-20)		0	0	0		0	0	0		0		0	1	0

Boxscore and Play-By-Play

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: NCAA Regional 6 Softball Championship (Game 6)
Result: Arizona State 1, Nebraska 0
Records: Arizona State (39-25); Nebraska (32-20)
Next ASU Game: Saturday, May 22 -- vs. Florida Atlantic, 11 a.m.
Next Nebraska Game: Saturday, May 22 -- vs. Notre Dame, 1:30 p.m.

Sun Devils Slide Past Huskers

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Pinch hitter Jennifer Gall's two-out, run-scoring single in the top of the seventh inning broke a scoreless tie and propelled Arizona State to a 1-0 victory over Nebraska Friday (May 21) in second-day action at the NCAA Softball Regional 6 Championship at the University of Michigan.

With the victory, the third-seeded Sun Devils (39-25) move into the winners' bracket final to face suprising No. 6 seed Florida Atlantic at 11 a.m. Saturday (May 22). No. 2 seed Nebraska (32-20) will try to battle its way through the losers' bracket, beginning with a 1:30 p.m. game Saturday against fifth-seeded Notre Dame.

In the top of the seventh, Jamie Hlebechuk singled to centerfield with out out, and following a strikeout, Missy Hixon singled to leftfield to move Hlebechuk into scoring position at second base. Gall then blooped a 2-2 pitch into rightfield to score Hlebechuk with the game-winning run.

Defense and superior pitching were key factors on both sides of the meeting. Arizona State's Kirsten Voak gave a stellar performance, allowing one hit -- a second-inning single to Jenifer Williams -- and recording nine strikeouts while facing just 22 batters, one over the minimum. She retired the final 16 batters to record her fourth shutout of the season. Voak's counterpart, Jenny Voss, turned in a good game as well, striking out seven while giving up seven hits and the lone run of the game.

Arizona State had scoring chances earlier in the game but Voss and the Nebraska defense suppressed Sun Devil scoring opportunities in the third and fifth innings. In the third inning, Jen Langenhuizen drew a two-out walk and advanced to third on a single before Voss struck out Chris Gill to end the inning. In the fifth, Voss got Langenhuizen to pop out to shortstop with a runner on third base for the final out of the inning.

Q U O T E S

Arizona State Head Coach Linda Wells
On the game overall ... "I felt it was a very nice ballgame, which is what you expect with two great pitchers on the mound. You hope when you play in an NCAA Tournament game you are able to play a clean ballgame and that was the case for both teams. We were fortunate enough to get a bloop hit in the seventh with a runner in scoring position, and that is often the difference in a tight ballgame."

On the play of her defense ... "Our defense was excellent, which allowed us to play an overall very clean game without mistakes. We also got great play from our outfield early on, which saved us on couple of occasions."

On comparing Nebraska's style to a Pacific-10 Conference team ... "They remind me of a couple of teams from our conference in terms of their style of play offensively. They are pretty much a straight-up team in the sense that they have players who can drive the ball deep, but they also can bunt and play for one run."

Arizona State Pinch Hitter Jennifer Gall
On her winning hit ... "I have been waiting all day for the chance to get to the plate and bring in the winning run. I have been thinking about coming up with the big hit all day today so when I got my chance, I knew I could deliver."

Arizona State Pitcher Kirsten Voak
On pitching two days in a row ... "My arm feels great and I feel like I could go tomorrow. When it gets to this time of the year, I feel like I could keep going as long as I have done what was necessary to stay in shape throughout the year."

Nebraska Head Coach Rhonda Revelle
On the game overall ... "I thought is was a good ballgame, obviously, as well as a classic pitchers duel. I felt around the third inning that this was going to be a one-run game and that the difference was going to be defense because both pitchers were on top of their game."

On her team's performance ... "I felt we were in control of the game defensively throughout. Although they had more runners and more chances, I felt we were in good shape because of the way Jenny (Voss) was pitching and the type of defense she had behind her."

On the game-winning hit ... "You have to give credit to the hitter because anytime you come off the bench and make contact, anything can happen. It was a bleeder, but in this game if you put the ball in play you are going to give your team a chance to win."

Nebraska Second Baseman Jennifer Lizama
On Arizona State pitcher Kirsten Voak ... "Obviously she is a very good pitcher with an excellent rise ball. However, we need to stay off her rise ball, which is up and out of the strike zone. We need to make her come down and throw the ball in our zone and stop fishing for the stuff out of the zone."

Nebraska Pitcher Jennifer Voss
On her performance ... "I felt great out there today and I agree that it was a classic pitchers duel, but those games are as much defense as anything and we played great defense as well."

N O T E S

• This was only the second time this season Nebraska was held to only one hit. The other time was vs. Massachusetts on Feb. 28.

• Arizona State is now 11-9 in one-run games, while Nebraska is now 12-10 in one-run games.

• Kirsten Voak has 24 strikeouts and zero walks in 16 innings pitched at the NCAA Regional.

Last updated: Saturday, 22-May-1999 01:14:55 EDT