Oviatt shuts out C-M-S, Storm advance

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Whitney Oviatt (Carnation, Wash./Cedarcrest) tossed a two-hit shutout as Simpson remained alive in the Indianola Regional of the 2010 NCAA Softball Championship with a 3-0 win against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday afternoon.

Oviatt (24-6) held C-M-S hitless through five innings, yielding a single to Harmony Palmer with two outs in the sixth. The senior struck out two and walked one on the afternoon.

Veronica Roshek (Urbandale, Iowa/Johnston) had two hits and an RBI for the third-seeded Storm (33-11), who play the winner of second-seeded Illinois Wesleyan and eighth-seeded Chicago at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Roshek's RBI put Simpson on the board in the third inning. With two outs, Roshek singled up the middle to score Amanda Enochs (Des Moines, Iowa/East) from second.

Simpson got insurance runs off the bats of Kortney Proctor (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton) and Kelsey Castenson (Harcourt, Iowa/Southeast Webster), more than enough breathing room for Oviatt.

The fourth-seeded Athenas (34-10) brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the seventh inning, but Oviatt got leadoff hitter Michelle Harvey to ground out, ending the threat.