2019 Judi Garman Classic

2019 Judi Garman Classic

Feb 27, 2019
Results

Feb 27, 2019

UCLA just keeps on rolling.

Five days after fourth-ranked Oklahoma had nothing for the Bruins in a six-run loss at Mary Nutter, it was the third-ranked Florida Gators who became the latest highly-touted victim, falling 7-1 on opening night of the 2019 Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif.

Replay | UCLA vs Florida

An Anderson Family Field single-game record crowd of 1,227 was on hand for what was expected to be a battle between two titans of the sport, but it was UCLA who repeatedly imposed its will.

How To Watch | Judi Garman Classic

The Bruins wasted little time in jumping on the Gators, plating a run in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of Aaliyah Jordan, who delivered a one-out RBI double to the centerfield warning track to deposit Briana Perez.

One inning later, it was Perez adding to the tally with an RBI single through the right side on an 0-2 pitch. Following a strange sequence of events that saw Florida’s Kelly Barnhill tag a runner out at the plate at the conclusion of a wild pitch—only for the pitch to be ruled illegal, giving UCLA new life—Jordan was intentionally walked to load the bases for Garcia.

That proved costly.

Garcia smoked a two-RBI single through the ride side, scoring both Perez and Godin to push the Bruins advantage to 4-0 after two.

Meanwhile, UCLA starter Holly Azevedo was dealing during the top half of each inning, escaping jams in the first and the fourth, and striking out eight Florida batters along the way. Azevedo would leave to a standing ovation, exiting after allowing just one run in five-plus innings of work.

The Bruins ultimately broke things wide open in the bottom half of the fourth inning after Perez led off the inning with UCLA’s second triple of the night. Bubba Nickles followed with a walk and, two batters later, it was Garcia who struck again, crushing a three-run shot over the left field wall.

Garcia’s final blow gave her a season-best five RBI—and gave the Bruins an insurmountable seven-run advantage.

The victory runs UCLA’s record to 15-0 on the season. Florida’s loss was its first, as the Gators drop to 18-1.

Faraimo Doesn’t Start—But She Slams The Door

Freshman phenom Megan Faraimo—the No. 1 prospect from the class of 2018—was not the pitcher in the circle to begin the night for UCLA, as head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez opted, instead, to give sophomore Holly Azevedo the start.

That it was Azevedo rather than Faraimo or Rachel Garcia was a bit surprising given the magnitude of the matchup.

But, not only did Azevedo demonstrate the embarrassment of riches that the Bruins enjoy at the position, Faraimo eventually did find her way into the circle after Azevedo was chased in the sixth inning.

All she did was deliver back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to get UCLA out of the jam in the sixth. And, for an encore, Faraimo fanned three more hitters in the seventh, leaving her with five strikeouts over the final two innings of the night.

Garcia Enjoys Monster Night

Playing first base and batting clean-up, the Bruins ace pitcher was, instead, an absolute problem in the batter’s box on Wednesday night.

Garcia finished the night 4-4 with five RBI and her third home run of the season. A sixth-inning triple left her just a double shy of the cycle.

DateTimeField MatchupResult
2/276:00 PMField 1FloridavsUCLA1-7

REPLAY: Florida vs UCLA


Feb 28, 2019

Entering Thursday’s matchup at the Judi Garman Classic, Florida had not lost to Oregon since Tim Walton’s first year as head coach.

REPLAY | Florida vs Oregon

Breaking: They still haven’t.

Kelly Barnhill enjoyed a bounce back performance in the circle, tossing a complete game three-hitter while allowing a lone run to cross the plate, as the Gators topped the Ducks, 2-1.

How To Watch | Judi Garman Classic

Through the first four innings, it was Barnhill and Oregon pitcher Jordan Dail going toe-to-toe, each escaping a little bit of trouble along the way, while generally mesmerizing opposing hitters.

As the game entered a scoreless fifth inning, it was the Ducks who struck first courtesy of April Utecht, who crushed her third home run of the season over the left field wall to give Oregon a one-run lead.

It didn’t take long for Florida to answer.

With Jade Caraway aboard after reaching on an error, Kyndyl Lindaman smacked an RBI single back through the middle of the infield to tie the game. Two batters later, after a Jordan Roberts single, it was Jaimie Hoover who delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI base knock of her own.

From there, it was up to Barnhill to keep the Ducks at bay and that’s exactly what the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year was able to do, shutting out Oregon the rest of the way to secure Florida’s 20th victory over the season.

Oregon falls to 11-5 on the season.



The hosts from Cal State Fullerton weren’t very hospitable in their opening game of the 2019 Judi Garman Classic.

The Titans used a pair of excellent pitching performances and some timely hitting to shock the suddenly-reeling 20th-ranked Oregon Ducks, earning a 3-2 victory in walk-off fashion on Saturday afternoon in Fullerton, Calif.

How To Watch | Judi Garman Classic

Taylor Dockins began the game in the circle for Fullerton and turned in her best effort of the season, allowing no runs and just two hits while striking out two over three innings of work.

Oregon found success once Dockins was lifted for Sophie Frost. Frost walked two and surrendered two hits without retiring a batter, leaving her abbreviated outing with the bases loaded, no outs, and two runs already on the board.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, Dani Martinez was lights out in relief of Frost.

Martinez escaped the jam she inherited without a blemish by retiring the next three Oregon hitters without incident. She’d sit down eight more Ducks consecutively before finally surrendering a hit.

The freshman from Bellflower, Calif., finished the contest having tossed four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out four. In doing so, she kept the Titans alive into the bottom of the seventh inning, with the game tied 2-2.

Lauren Amezcua picked an excellent time to record her first career hit, leading off what would be the final frame with a single. Alexa Neil moved her over with a sacrifice bunt and, two batters later, it was Deshea Hill to play the hero.

Hill delivered a seeing-eye single back through the middle, Amezcua scored easily from second base, and the home dugout emptied onto the field.

Cal State Fullerton snapped a two-game skid with the victory. Oregon, meanwhile, has lost two straight, three of four, and six of its last 11 since getting off to a 6-0 start to begin the season.

Both teams will be in action for the remainder of the week as part of a loaded Judi Garman tournament field. Watch all of the action LIVE on FloSoftball.

MatchupResult
New MexicovsFlorida0-1
OregonvsFlorida1-2
TennesseevsUTSA12-2
OregonvsCal State Fullerton2-3
AuburnvsLoyola Marymount9-2
Fresno StatevsTennessee2-4
AuburnvsUTSA7-1
Fresno StatevsLoyola Marymount4-1

REPLAYS

New Mexico vs Florida

Oregon vs Florida

Tennessee vs UTSA

Auburn vs UTSA

Fresno State vs LMU


Mar 1, 2019

Safe to say Rachel Garcia will play a starring role in Tim Walton’s nightmares moving forward.

For the second time in three days, it was the reigning National Player of the Year wreaking havoc on the third-ranked Florida Gators—this time, primarily, from the circle.

How To Watch | Judi Garman Classic

Garcia delivered a complete game shutout—her fifth of the season—and struck out 10 batters, working through a few early hiccups without incident before locking in and dominating the Florida offense down the stretch.

“I’d say I definitely brought my ‘A’ game,” Garcia said. “I just try to stay relaxed and do my thing. No matter what my teammates have my back … Once I settled in with the strike zone and with Sully behind the plate, it just clicked.”

For the Gators, it was déjà vu all over again, with a UCLA pitcher holding their strong top-to-bottom lineup at bay. Florida has yet to score more than two runs in any of its four games in Fullerton, Calif., this week.

For her part, Gators’ pitcher Natalie Lugo was strong early and the defense behind her was fantastic, but the wheels came off in the bottom of the fourth inning.

After an infield hit, a bunt for a base hit and a walk loaded the bases with no one out, Bubba Nickles broke the scoreless tie with a 2 RBI single back through the middle, but the Bruins weren’t done.

Aaliyah Jordan continued her early season tear with an RBI double to the left field wall and Garcia followed with an RBI single to centerfield to help herself out and give UCLA an insurmountable four-run lead.

“We had a little Bruin Magic stirring up in the dugout,” Garcia said. “That was for sure the main thing that happened. We just had to do our thing. We really went into that inning with a gameplan and we just executed.”

For Florida, UCLA remains the only team the Gators have fallen to this year, as Walton’s bunch moves to 20-2 on the season.


The University of Michigan softball team earned his biggest win of the 2019 season in comeback fashion, plating three runs in the sixth inning to upend No. 2-ranked UCLA, 3-1, in its first game of the annual Judi Garman Classic on Friday afternoon (March 1) at Cal State Fullerton's Anderson Family Field. It was the Bruins' first loss of the season.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien (3-3) was outstanding in the circle, allowing just one run off three hits -- two coming against the first two batters she faced -- and no walks. She struck out three and allowed only four total baserunners in the contest, including two over the last six innings.

Michigan took advantage of free bases to initiate its rally in the sixth inning when a leadoff hit-by-pitch and a throwing error off a bunt single from Natalia Rodriguez put two in scoring position with no outs. Senior second baseman Faith Canfield came through in the clutch, driving a two-run single up the middle and under the glove of the diving UCLA second baseman. Freshman left fielder Lexie Blair tacked on another run two batters later, scoring Canfield from first on a double to the wall in left-center field.

Beaubien needed just eight pitches to end the contest in the top of the seventh -- and despite a one-out fielding error putting a UCLA runner aboard. She responded with a first-pitch fielder's choice back to the circle and an unassisted groundout to first for the final out.

UCLA scored its run on a fielder's choice after back-to-back singles to lead off the game. Canfield made a diving play to keep the ball on the infield and get the out at second base, but a fielder's choice in the preceding at-bat had put the lead runner at third and she scored easily on the play. Another groundout to Canfield ended the first inning.

Beaubien did not allow another baserunner until UCLA posted a two-out single up the middle in the fifth. After the Bruin runner stole second to move into scoring position, Beaubien responded with a four-pitch strikeout to end the threat.

The win was Michigan's first over a ranked opponent this season. The Wolverines already have faced four top-10 opponents in No. 5 Florida, which UCLA defeated, 4-0, earlier Friday, No. 7 Arizona and No. 9 LSU.

MatchupResult
LMUvsNew Mexico4-2
OregonvsAuburn0-8
UCLAvsFlorida4-0
WashingtonvsAuburn8-0
UCLAvsMichigan1-3
UCONNvsCSUN3-6
TennesseevsNew Mexico15-1
FloridavsWashington1-0
UTSAvsCSUN1-2
UCONNvsCal State Fullerton3-11
UTSAvsFresno State1-10


REPLAYS

LMU vs New Mexico

Oregon vs Auburn

UCLA vs Florida

Washington vs Auburn

UCLA vs Michigan

UCONN vs CSUN

Tennessee vs New Mexico

Florida vs Washington

UTSA vs CSUN

UTSA vs Fresno State


Mar 3, 2019

Michigan closed out the Judi Garman Classic with a 4-2 comeback win against No. 5 Washington and a 1-0 walk-off win against Cal State Northridge.

The University of Michigan softball team swept its Judi Garman Classic competition for the second straight season, earning wins over No. 5 Washington, 4-2, and Cal State Northridge, 1-0, on Sunday (March 3) at Anderson Family Field. U-M rallied to defeat Huskies for its second top-five win of the weekend before walking off in its tournament finale against CSUN.

Senior first baseman Alex Sobczak and sophomore shortstop Natalia Rodriguez spearheaded the fourth-inning rally against Washington with a pair of home runs and providing an immediate answer after the Huskies took a 2-1 lead in the top half of the frame.

Sobczak evened the score in the first at-bat, sending a no-doubt leadoff solo homer over the left-center field wall for her first of the season. After back-to-back groundouts, junior right fielder Haley Hoogenraad kept the inning alive with a double off the wall in right-center, and Rodriguez followed with another no-doubt shot, sending a two-run homer deep to left field -- the first long ball of her career.

Michigan kept Washington off the scoreboard over the remaining three innings, but the Huskies put runners in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien got two quick outs in the latter before allowing a walk and subsequent bloop single. She ended the threat just three pitches later, forcing a game-ending popout to second base.

In all, Beaubien (4-3) allowed two runs off six hits and four walks and struck out five against Washington.

Freshman RHP Alex Storako (3-3) was also stout from the circle in a complete-game shutout against CSUN in the tournament finale. She allowed just three total baserunners -- on two hits and one walk -- and struck out nine Matador batters.

Michigan struggled from the plate for much of the contest but came through with three big hits in the bottom of the seventh. Hoogenraad and Rodriguez reached on back-to-back infield singles to turn over the lineup and put a runner in scoring position for senior second baseman Faith Canfield, who drove a double over the head of the CSUN right fielder to push across the game-winning run. Canfield was 3-for-4 against the Matadors.

MatchupResult
WashingtonvsMichigan2-4
New MexicovsUCONN1-2
WashingtonvsCal State Fullerton2-0
UCLAvsUCONN4-0
New MexicovsCal State Fullerton1-19
CSUNvsMichigan0-1
CSUNvsLoyola Marymount0-3


REPLAYS

Washington vs Michigan

New Mexico vs UCONN

UCLA vs UCONN

CSUN vs Michigan

CSUN vs LMU


Event Info
2019 Judi Garman Classic will stream LIVE on FloSoftball from March 1-3 from Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif.