Softball sweeps Stanford; claims fourth conference title

Washington clinched a share of their fourth all-time conference title and first since 2010, finishing a Senior Weekend sweep of Stanford and getting help as third-place Arizona won two of three with co-champ UCLA.

#2 Washington (45-7, 20-4 Pac-12) shut out Stanford (32-18, 8-13) for the second day in a row by a 3-0 margin. Minutes later, the sixth-ranked Wildcats (42-12, 19-5) finished a 3-1 win over #3 UCLA to prevent the Bruins (46-5, 20-4) from clinching the Pac-12 title outright.

The conference title is Washington’s first since Utah joined the conference and created the Pac-12 in 2011. The Huskies won Pac-10 titles in 1996, 2000 and 2010.

Taran Alvelo went 4 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings to improve to 24-4 on the season and record the 100th win of her Husky career, becoming just the third Husky to achieve the feat, joining Danielle Lawrie (136 from 2006-10) and Jennifer Spediacci (100 from 1997-2000).

Freshman left fielder Sami Reynolds went 3-for-4 with three extra-base hits, punctuated by the go-ahead two-run homer in the third inning that held up as the game-winner.

The Huskies await their postseason fate in the NCAA Softball Selection Show, Sunday at 6 p.m. Pacific on ESPN2. Huskies most likely will receive somewhere between the #2 and #4 overall seeds and will start their postseason journey next weekend at home.