The Overnight Marathon for a Championship

Eighth In A Series

By Dirk Facer

Patience and perseverance are things Charmelle Green got a big dose of as a softball player for the University of Utah. She and her teammates needed it to win the 1991 Western Athletic Conference championship. It took 56 innings and more than 12 hours for the Utes to eliminate Creighton and earn an NCAA Regional berth.

The overnight marathon, which began on the evening of Saturday, May 11 and continued into the next morning, included the longest game and third-longest game in NCAA history. The Bluejays, who hosted the event, won the opener 1-0 in 31 innings to force a second game in the championship round. After a 20-minute break, the teams resumed play just past midnight.

The second game ended at 6:08 a.m. CDT on Sunday when Utah's Christina Freeman scored from second on an error by Creighton first baseman Teri Wilber to give the Utes a 4-3 victory in 25 innings and a berth in the 20-team NCAA Regionals.

Charmelle Green was Utah softball's first two-time All-American and led the 1991 team to the College World Series.

Utes stranded 34 runners in the first game to establish a record. In the second game, Utah left 31 on base and Creighton 25.

Several NCAA records were set during the night:

- Most hits in a game - 7, Charmelle Green, Utah, tied record.

- Most walks in a game - 6, Wendy Steward, Utah, all intentional.

- Most innings pitched in a game - 31, Kelly Brookhart, Creighton and Janet Womack, Utah.

- Most at-bats by a player - 14, set by four Utah players; four other players in the game batted 13 times, bettering the previous record.

Although it happened more than 31 years ago, the memories and associated stories still make Green smile.

“It’s something that hasn’t been accomplished since and it was a remarkable accomplishment,” said Green, who is now Utah’s Deputy Athletics Director for Internal Operations and the Chief Operating Officer. “When we gather we always talk about it because it took so much perseverance.”

In this day and age, there’s so much gamesmanship with coaches trying to gain an edge with this tactic or that tactic. But none of that happened for that window of time, 12 hours and 56 innings. It was grueling but it was also just so beautiful.

Jo Evans

Green noted that it ultimately landed Utah in the Women’s College World Series that year.

“That was the spark that brought us even closer together. We were a great team already and that experience really got us to believe in ourselves,” she recalled.

The surprise wasn’t getting to the CWS, Green said. It was that it took 56 innings in Omaha, Neb., to qualify for NCAA Regionals. Green had a record seven hits in the first game. Amy Timmel Hogue, who is now head coach of the Utes, went to bat 27 times over the two games, including a record 14 in the opener.

“Oh my gosh. I think we all had some kind of adrenalin that sustained us throughout the night,” Green said. “But if my memory serves me well, I think I got many hours of sleep after that. Then we had to quickly get back to work to prepare for regionals.”

Hogue acknowledged the players were weary in the WAC finale. She said it took a team effort to get the win. However, the former second baseman added that there were many stories throughout the night, mostly individual.

“We were all delirious,” said Hogue. “So everyone has a story about it.”

Jo Evans, a former softball player and head coach at Utah, ranks 11th in NCAA history with 1,300 career wins.

Jo Evans was the head coach of the Utes that season. From 1990-96, she led Utah to a 222-143 record, four NCAA Tournaments and two College World Series appearances.

“That game was just played in its purest sense," said Evans, who moved on to coach at Texas A&M from 1997-2022 and recently took over at UC Santa Barbara. “It will always be a very fond memory of mine. In this day and age, there’s so much gamesmanship with coaches trying to gain an edge with this tactic or that tactic. But none of that happened for that window of time, 12 hours and 56 innings. It was grueling but it was also just so beautiful.”

The Utes, who went to defeat Texas A&M in the NCAA Regional finals, wound up getting ousted from the College World Series following 2-0 losses to both Fresno State and Missouri. Green was named the WAC Player of the Year and an All-American for the second straight season.

Following two years of professional softball, Green returned to Utah and embarked on careers as an administrator (Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation) and as a coach (West High School and the U as a volunteer). The latter led to full-time coaching stints at Colorado State, Syracuse and Notre Dame. While with the Irish, she made the switch to athletic administration. After 10 years at the university, she spent the next decade at Penn State and became a Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator.

It still isn’t an equal playing field. We’ve got to continue to challenge ourselves to ensure that women have every opportunity to excel at the highest levels and pursue greatness.

Charmelle Green

Green returned to her alma mater in March of 2021.

Having been a teammate of Green at Utah, Hogue knew what the Utes were getting.

“I knew we would get someone that was going to expect nothing but the best,” Hogue said. “She was going to do her best to outwork you and lead you. That’s what I got as a teammate and that’s what I’m getting as a boss. She’s someone who has big ideas about how things should be done.”

Green came to Utah from San Diego and went on to become the program’s first two-time All-American. She credits those who paved the way and the implementation of Title IX for making such opportunities possible. It allowed her to have a scholarship, play a sport she loves and pursue championships.

“I would have had to make different plans if it weren’t for Title IX, or if Title IX didn’t exist,” Green said. “So I’m grateful for the women who fought for women’s rights in higher education and I’m grateful for the decision-makers.”

Decades later, Green emphasized there is still work to do.

It’s something that hasn’t been accomplished since and it was a remarkable accomplishment. When we gather we always talk about it because it took so much perseverance.

Charmelle Green

“It still isn’t an equal playing field. We’ve got to continue to challenge ourselves to ensure that women have every opportunity to excel at the highest levels and pursue greatness,” Green said. “That means that we’ve got to have women that are leaders within our industry, within higher education, to continue to drive change for the better.”

Green appreciates the progress that has been made — such as television coverage and the number of participants in women’s sports — but gaps still exist as Title IX celebrates its 50th year.

“We’re celebrating the achievements, but also reminding ourselves of the work that lies ahead is incredibly important,” Green said. “This is the work of everybody, men and women.”

The burden, she continued, shouldn’t rest on women to carry the torch for equality.

As a high-ranking administrator of Utah athletics, Green said she loves her job and the accompanying access it has to impress decision-makers to focus on an “incredibly important” issue.

“I’m not a trailblazer,” Green insisted while expressing appreciation for former Utah coaches and administrators like Evans, Fern Gardner, Norma Carr and Elaine Elliott. “They truly experienced hardships in pursuit of excellence.”