Draining but historic: Eriksen exhales after USF softball survives 14-inning classic

On an afternoon where his team played the longest game in his coaching career, USF softball coach Ken Eriksen had one request for his wife after he got home from Sunday's 14-inning marathon 1-0 win over Florida Atlantic.

"When I got home last night, and sat down, I told my wife, look, if you want to hold hands, and we just want to stay here, that's great, but no talking right now," he said.

There are two reasons Eriksen was speechless. One, he has developed a nasty sinus infection. And two, the long-time Bulls' coach had just witnessed an instant classic by his team that lasted four hours and 10 minutes.

His became the head coach at USF in 1997 and Sunday was his 1,746th game since then. So, you can imagine what kind of game it was when he told Green, Gold and Bold that, "It's up there at the top five (games he has been involved with). There's no doubt about it."

Start with sophomore pitcher Anne Long. She pitched all 14 innings for the Bulls, throwing 218 pitches while allowing only seven hits. She struck out 13.

And on Monday, Long was named the American Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week. That had to be the easiest decision in the history of these honors. She was 2-1 for the week with a save (the loss was at 7th-ranked Florida).

She figured in all three games in the weekend series against the Owls. She won on Friday night, got the save on Saturday, and was back at it all day Sunday.

As the game wound on Sunday, did Eriksen think about going to the bullpen, considering the number of pitches long had thrown? He laughed said through a raspy voice, "If I had taken her out of the ball game, there would have been a revolution of the 1,200 people in the stands, and there would have been a revolution in my dugout. So, to be able to save face, it was a no brainer."

Autumn Courtney, Long's counterpart with Florida Atlantic, matched zeroes with Long throughout the long afternoon, repeatedly working out of jams in a 211-pitch effort. She might still be on the mound were it not for a miscue that decided the game.

In the decisive inning, USF's Kathy Garcia-Soto singled and stole second with one out. She headed to third after Alexi Galligani flew out to center and the throw got past the third baseman. Garcia-Soto sprinted home and dove head-first across the plate for the winning run.

Fittingly, it was an unearned run.

USF remains atop the American Conference standings with a 14-4 record in league play. The Bulls are 32-13 overall.

"We had great crowds all weekend and it was really, really cool to see a traditional game of pitching and defense," Eriksen said. "Very rarely do get two pitchers of that quality to hook up in a conference matchup, let alone nationwide.

"It was really like a postseason, super regional, College World Series game. 
It was a really, really cool environment, and I'm glad our kids got that, so they got the taste of what's gonna happen."

Eriksen said he got to spend a little time with FAU pitcher Autumn Courtney in the handshake line after the game.

"I told her, kid, that was a great game. You have nothing to hang your head about. That was awesome. 
You know, what you did in those situations is only I could hope for as a coach, and I'm glad my kid did the same thing, but we'll see at the end of the year. There's a class act the whole time," he said.

"When you play games like that, and you get into those battles, there can be nothing but respect across the lines. I've been in games like that before as a coach and when I was a player. It's like, we all just experienced something very special, you know? 
And it was really a shame that somebody had to go home, you know, with an L, because that was a special, special day."