Manteca’s Allie Walljasper helps LSU advance to College World Series

LSU’s softball team will play in the Women’s College World Series this week, and Allie Walljasper will be a part of it.

Walljasper, The Bee’s All-Stanislaus District Player of the Year for softball in 2013 and 2014, earned the win Sunday as the Tigers beat Arizona 10-5 to sweep their best-of-three NCAA Super Regional in front of an announced crowd of 2,936 at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge, La.

The freshman from Sierra High School in Manteca improved to 15-5. She allowed two earned runs (five total), five hits and three walks in 41/3 innings and was relieved by Carley Hoover after walking in two runs in the fifth inning, according to the LSU’s athletics website. Hoover got out of the jam with two strikeouts and went on to record the save.

“That was a huge moment. She’s such a great competitor,” LSU coach Beth Torina said of Hoover, according to LSUsports.net. “Allie threw a great game and had some bad luck in that inning. A ball barely left the infield off of her. ... Both of them are just freshmen. They are playing and pitching like upperclassmen.”

Walljasper has 21 starts in 24 appearances this season, totaling 96 strikeouts and 29 walks in 1232/3 innings. She’ll take a 1.75 ERA into the World Series, LSU’s fourth appearance. The Tigers (50-12) are seeded fifth and will open against fourth-seeded Auburn on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. The game will be televised on ESPN.

“It’s so exciting. I wouldn’t want anything else,” Walljasper told LSUsports.net. “We’ve been working hard this whole time. For our team to come together as the power of one, it’s really shown this week.

“I couldn’t have done it without my team behind me the whole time. They were backing me up through the whole game, and it was very exciting to see the outcome of the game. We all deserved it, and it was really cool to see.”

Walljasper and Hoover were named to the Baton Rouge Super Regional Team. LSU teammate Sandra Simmons was named MVP after going 3 for 3 with five RBIs. She hit a two-run homer, a two-RBI single, a sacrifice fly and a triple. Walljasper also pitched 61/3 innings in LSU’s clinching 4-3, nine-inning win over Arizona State in their NCAA Regional on May 17, her 19th birthday.

LSU is one of five Southeastern Conference teams in the World Series. In other openers Thursday, No. 1 Florida plays No. 8 Tennessee, No. 3 Michigan meets No. 6 Alabama, and No. 2 Oregon faces Pacific-12 Conference foe and No. 7 UCLA, which includes sophomore utility player and Johansen graduate Gabrielle Maurice.

This story was originally published May 24, 2015 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Manteca’s Allie Walljasper helps LSU advance to College World Series."