COLLEGE SOFTBALL : Fernandez Gets UCLA on Track After 1-0 Loss

UCLA’s suit of armor sustained a crack Saturday, but rebounded a few hours later to beat Cal State Northridge, 2-0, in a losers’ bracket softball game on Lisa Fernandez’s second no-hitter of the NCAA Division I softball tournament.

Top-ranked UCLA (48-4), which lost to Oklahoma State, 1-0, in an earlier game Saturday, will face the loser of today’s Oklahoma State-Arizona game at 4 p.m. PDT.

Against second-ranked Northridge, Fernandez (31-2) struck out 13 and faced only two batters over the minimum.

The Bruins scored both of their runs in the top of the fourth on Janae Deffenbaugh’s two-run triple. Jo Alchin and Nichole Victoria hit consecutive singles and Deffenbaugh followed with a gapper to left-center.

In UCLA’s first game, Oklahoma State’s Melanie Roche and Fernandez matched each other pitch for pitch, each allowing only five hits, but Roche (32-4) won the game, 1-0, in 13 innings.

The 5,017 in attendance--an NCAA record--watched a duel between two All-American pitchers before the Cowboys scored the winning run on a bloop single by Shyla Sicks with one out in the bottom of the 13th inning.

Fourth-ranked Oklahoma State (50-7), which lost to UCLA, 7-0, early in the season, faces third-ranked Arizona today in a winners’ bracket game at 1 p.m. PDT. Arizona--a 2-1 winner over Southwestern Louisiana on Saturday in 10 innings--and Oklahoma State are the only undefeated teams left in the double-elimination tournament.

The Bruins, whose win streak was broken after 24 games, squandered several opportunities, including a bases-loaded, none-out chance in the first.

Cal State Northridge 4, Cal State Long Beach 2--The Matadors broke out of their hitting slump to stay alive and eliminate Long Beach in a losers’ bracket game.

Before facing Long Beach, Northridge had collected only 11 hits in four postseason games.

Second-ranked Northridge (48-8-1) wasted little time against the 49ers (45-21), taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning on run-scoring singles by Tamara Ivie and Scia Maumausolo..

Northridge added two runs in the fifth inning on Ivie’s sacrifice fly and Missy Cress’ run-scoring single.