COLLEGE SOFTBALL / NAIA CHAMPIONSHIP : SCC Wins Three Games on Long Day in Missouri

Southern California College beat Puget Sound (Wash.), 3-0, to win its third game Friday at the NAIA softball championship tournament in Columbia, Mo.

Amy Lewis, a senior from Villa Park High and Rancho Santiago College, tripled to drive in Shannon O’Rourke in the first inning and O’Rourke singled in two runs in the fifth for the Vanguards, who advance to play top-seeded Oklahoma City this morning. The winner of that game moves to the title game later today.

SCC finished off Puget Sound at 1:35 a.m. (CST) Saturday. Because rain washed out play Wednesday and Thursday, the tournament was scrambling to get back on schedule.

Gretchen Brandt, a freshman from Susanville, Calif., and Jennifer Houston, a freshman from San Jose, combined to pitch a two-hitter against Puget Sound. Houston gave up one hit in the final five innings to earn the victory.

Earlier Friday, SCC beat Belmont (Tenn.) and William Woods (Mo.) by identical scores, 2-1 in eight innings.

Brandt drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the eighth against Williams Woods, which upset second-seeded Athens (Ala.) State in the first round.

William Woods got a runner to third with one out in the bottom of the eighth. But Angela Wolf threw her out at the plate trying to score on a fly ball to left.

The Vanguards (44-20) tied the score in the top of the seventh when Lewis was hit in the foot with the bases loaded and two outs.

SCC, seeded seventh, also had to rally to win the first game. Brandt’s single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth tied the score, 1-1. The Vanguards loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth and scored when Shannon Moreno singled up the middle.

The Vanguards wasted opportunities in both games, leaving 13 runners on base in the second game and 12 in the first.

Shannon Saylor (30-8) picked up both victories for SCC, which is making its first appearance in the national tournament.