Looking Back at the NCAA Champions: 2009 Washington Huskies

Photo courtesy Washington Athletics

Fall practice has wrapped up around the country in Division I, which allows us to set our sights on the 2024 season that lies ahead.

Early focus will be centered on the University of Oklahoma as they begin the quest to become the first team in Division I history to win four consecutive national championships.

The Sooners tied UCLA (1988, 1989, 1990) as the only teams to ever win three consecutive titles when they defeated Florida State to claim the 2023 title.

Extra Inning Softball will be reviewing the 41 national champions that have previously hoisted the trophy.

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2009 Washington Huskies

The Venue: ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, Oklahoma City, Okla.

The Head Coach: Heather Tarr

The Players (Women’s College World Series Roster): Dani Stuart, Marnie Koziol, Niki Williams, Kimi Pohlman, Amanda Fleischman, Taylor Smith, Jenn Salling, Jessica Ventoza, Ashley Charters, Alicia Blake, Jenna Clifton, Danielle Lawrie, Morgan Stuart, Ashley Tuiasosopo, Bailey Stenson, Lauren Greer, Alyson McWherter, Ashlyn Watson, Felecia Harris

The Regular Season: Entering the 2009 season, Washington had firmly established itself as one of the top programs in the country having made eight Women’s College World Series appearances in the previous 13 years but had yet to win the final game of the season. The Huskies, who began the season with an 18-game winning streak, finished the 2009 regular season with a 41-10 record and a 14-7 record in the Pac-10 Conference. Washington finished second in the Pac-10 standings, two games behind UCLA and a game ahead of Arizona. The Huskies offense was led by Ashley Charters, Kimi Pohlman and Ashlyn Watson. Charters led the Huskies with a .447 batting average and 37 stolen bases and also had nine home runs and drove in 33 runs. Pohlman hit. .360 on the season with three homers and 23 RBIs, while Watson hit 11 home runs, drove in 36 runs and batted .330. Danielle Lawrie led the Washington pitching staff with a dominant season. She went 42-8 with a 0.98 earned run average and struck out 521 batters in 350.2 innings pitched. Charters and Lawrie were each selected as an All-American and Lawrie also was named the Pac-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year.

The Regional: Washington began a three-week odyssey that ultimately ended with the Huskies landing in Oklahoma City, Okla., by playing in the NCAA Amherst Regional and joined Sacred Heart, Cornell and Massachusetts in the regional. Washington began the regional by facing Sacred Heart and the Huskies downed the Pioneers 9-1 in five innings. Danielle Lawrie went 5.0 innings and allowed two hits and struck out 12 batters, while Jenn Salling had three hits and and an RBI and Niki Williams had two hits and drove in three runs. Washington faced regional host Massachusetts and took advantage of a Minueteman error in the seventh inning to post a 3-1 win. Lawrie allowed just three hits and struck out 12 and the Huskies plated two runs in the top of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Morgan Stuart reached on an error and Alicia Blake and Williams crossed the plate with the winning runs. Massachusetts rebounded to win the rematch to set up a winner-take-all game in the regional final. UMass hit a pair of home runs to post a 5-1 win to set up the third game between the two teams. Lawrie turned in an epic performance in leading Washington to a 5-1 victory in 15 innings to secure a birth in the Super Regional. Lawrie went all 15.0 innings and allowed seven hits and struck out 24 batters. Washington took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Massachusetts tied the game in the fourth inning. Both teams were unable to push across a run until Washington finally broke through in the top of the 15th inning. Salling hit an RBI infield single to give Washington a 2-1 lead and Lawrie followed with a two-run single to increase the lead to 4-1. Stuart added an RBI single later in the inning to make the final score 5-1.

The Super Regional: Washington stayed on the road as it headed to Atlanta, Ga., to face Georgia Tech in the Super Regional. Washington used a 14-hit attack and the pitching of Danielle Lawrie to post a 7-1 win in game one. Morgan Stuart had two hits and drove in three runs and Ashley Charters homered, had two hits and drove in a pair of runs. Kimi Pohlman, Lawrie, Ashlyn Watson and Lauren Greer each added two hits for the Huskies. Washington punched its ticket for Oklahoma City with a 7-0 victory in game two behind the pitching and hitting of Lawrie. Lawrie went 7.0 innings and allowed three hits and struck out eight batters and also went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs. Blake and Watson also homered for Washington in the victory.

The Field at the Women’s College World Series: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Washington

The Huskies at the Women’s College World Series: Washington, the No. 3 seed, opened WCWS play against Georgia and Danielle Lawrie and Niki Williams led the Huskies to a 3-1 victory. Lawrie went 7.0 innings and permitted six hits and struck out five batters and Williams hit a key two-run home run in the fourth inning. The home run by Williams staked the Huskies to a 2-0 lead, but Georgia cut the lead in half with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Washington added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Kimi Pohlman singled in Lauren Greer to increase the lead to 3-1 and the Huskies turned a double play to end the game. In its second game of the WCWS, Washington faced Pac-10 foe Arizona State and Lawrie and the Sun Devils Hillary Bach locked in a pitcher’s duel. Through seven innings, Bach held Washington to six hits and no runs and Lawrie permitted Arizona State just one hit and no runs. The Huskies would rally in the bottom of the eighth inning to claim a 1-0 win and remain undefeated in WCWS play. With one out, Pohlman doubled to begin the rally. After Jenn Salling was intentionally walked, Lawrie flied out to rightfield which allowed Pohlman to advance to third base with two outs. Morgan Stuart delivered a single that scored Pohlman giving the Huskies the walk-off win. Washington suffered its first loss of the WCWS in the rematch against Georgia as the Bulldogs claimed a 9-8 win in nine innings in a back-and-forth affair. Williams got the Huskies off and running in the second inning with a three-run home run giving UW a 3-0 lead. Georgia scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning, but Washington extended the lead in the top of the third inning. Stuart singled in Lawrie to push the Huskies lead to 4-2, but Georgia once again responded as the Bulldogs tied the game at 4-4 with two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Keyed by a three-run home run from Kristin Schnake, Georgia scored four times in the bottom of the fourth inning to take an 8-4 lead. Washington would rally as Williams belted a grand slam in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 8-8. Georgia claimed the win in the bottom of the ninth inning when Brianna Hesson drew a bases-loaded walk giving the Bulldogs the 9-8 victory. For the third time in the WCWS, Washington would face Georgia and this time the winner would advance to the championship finals. And this game was all Huskies as Lawrie blasted a grand slam in the first inning and Washington rolled to a 9-3 win. Ashley Charters increased the Washington lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI triple. Georgia rallied to trim the lead to 5-3 with three runs in the top of the third inning. Washington responded when Morgan Stuart homered in the bottom of the third inning to increase the lead to 6-3. Washington put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning when Williams hit an RBI single and Jenn Salling hit a two-run double. With the victory, Washington advanced to the championship finals for the third time in school history.

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