UCLA’s Fernandez Ends Northridge’s Season With No-Hitter : College softball: Second-ranked Matadors eliminated, 2-0, after staying alive with victory over Cal State Long Beach.

After overcoming its offensive troubles in an earlier game Saturday, Cal State Northridge went hitless against UCLA’s Lisa Fernandez and lost 2-0 in an elimination game of the Women’s College World Series in front of 1,737 at Hall of Fame Stadium.

Second-ranked Northridge (48-9-1), which was eliminated by the loss, finished tied for fifth place in the 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 Northridge, Fernandez (31-2) struck out 13 and faced only two batters over the minimum. It was Fernandez’s second no-hit performance in the tournament, her 11th career no-hitter. She allowed no hits against Connecticut on Thursday.

Workhorse Fernandez already had pitched 13 innings against Oklahoma State earlier in the day, but fatigue certainly didn’t show against the Matadors, many of whom struck out looking and on check swings.

“After 13 innings, I was warm,” Fernandez said. “I had nothing to lose, nothing to save. So I just gave it all I had.”

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.

Kathy Blake (22-3), who beat UCLA in the Bruins’ season-opener this year, allowed five hits and struck out three.

Northridge finished the season 48-9-1.

“We caught UCLA at a bad time,” Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson said. “Fernandez is a great pitcher, and you have to catch her on an off night. When you play a great team, you have to really play well. We didn’t play too bad at all. She just pitched great.

“She’s probably the best pitcher in the world.”

Earlier Saturday, Northridge broke out of its hitting slump and defeated Cal State Long Beach, 4-2.

Before facing Long Beach, the Matadors had collected only 11 hits in four postseason games. The Matadors regrouped and set a team goal for eight hits against the 49ers. They finished one shy of their goal, but seven different batters contributed and it proved enough to beat Long Beach.

“We established some new goals before this game and now we’re starting to play better,” Torgeson said.

Against the 49ers, the Matadors wasted little time.

Jen Fleming led off the top of the first with a single up the middle. Vicky Rios reached on a throwing error and Beth Calcante’s sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third. Tamara Ivie and Scia Maumausolo followed with consecutive run-scoring singles to right field for a 2-0 lead.

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

Long Beach responded by bunching three hits in the fifth on a two-run single by Linda Lunceford.

Blake, who has won nine consecutive starts since losing to Long Beach, 2-1, on April 21, tossed a four-hitter and kept 49er batters off-balance with a frequent changeup.

The sophomore right-hander was nearly perfect through four innings, allowing only one base hit with two out in the third.

“Kathy pitched a good game and that’s the kind of effort you need at this stage of the season,” Torgeson said.

In other games:

Oklahoma State 1, UCLA 0 (13 inns.)--Two All-American pitchers combined for an extended scoreless duel before the Cowboys scored on a bloop single by Shyla Sicks with one out in the bottom of the 13th.

Fourth-ranked Oklahoma State (50-7), which lost to UCLA, 7-0, early in the season, faces Arizona today in a winners’ bracket game at 1 p.m. (PDT).

Oklahoma State’s Melanie Roche and Fernandez matched each other pitch for pitch, each allowing five hits. But Roche (32-4), who allowed UCLA 10 hits in the previous matchup, won the battle.

The Bruins (47-4), who had their win streak snapped at 24 games, squandered several scoring opportunities.

UCLA loaded the bases with none out in the first inning, but the Cowboys forced out two runners at the plate and recorded the third out on an infield popup. UCLA stranded 10 runners, including six in scoring position.

Fernandez (30-2), who had 12 strikeouts, had thrown 57 consecutive scoreless innings in the World Series dating back to 1991 before the Cowboys scored in the 13th.

Arizona 2, Southwestern Louisiana 1 (10 innings)--Arizona scored the winning run in the 10th innings on Leah O’Brien’s sacrifice fly, which scored Stacy Redondo.

Connecticut 2, Florida State 1 (8 inns.)--The unranked Huskies overcame a one-run deficit and outhit Florida State, 11-4, in a consolation bracket game.

Connecticut (45-13) will face Southwestern Louisiana today at 11 a.m. (PDT). Fifth-ranked Florida State, the first team eliminated from the eight-team tournament, finished 52-9.

The Huskies tied the score, 1-1, in the fifth on a solo home run by Andrea D’Innocenzo, the first homer of the tournament. Kim Staehle scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth.