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Washington opens WCWS with 3-1 win
CHS grad Bates steps up on offense, defense
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Ceres High grad Nicole Bates and the University of Washington softball team will battle Oklahoma during the second day of the 2017 NCAA Division-I Women's College World Series. The contest will be televised on ESPN tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. - photo by Photo courtesy of UW Athletics

Ceres High grad Nicole “Sis” Bates continues to perform like a veteran during her first season with the University of Washington softball team.

The freshman standout made several key plays on defense and collected one RBI on offense as the sixth-seeded Huskies snapped the No. 3 Oregon Ducks’ 15-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory during the opening round of the NCAA Division-I Women’s College World Series earlier today in Oklahoma City.

Nicole had five putouts and two assists while starting at second base.

She threw out an Oregon baserunner at first from her knees in the seventh inning.

She also applied two tags during steal attempts during the course of the game.

“Our team is really big on three outs only,” Bates said while talking about the Huskies’ defensive mindset for each inning. “We really take pride in that.”

Tied at 0-0, Bates drove in Kirstyn Thomas with a triple to right field in the top of the third inning.

Nicole collected her sixth triple of the year, one shy of tying Washington’s single-season record.

Bates and the Huskies (49-12) will face 2016 national champion Oklahoma (57-9) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.