Thursday, 4/10/97
Bruins creep back to pounce on Cal
Team rallies from 4-1 deficit, scores second game’s only
runs
By Melissa Anderson
Daily Bruin Staff
In dramatic fashion, the No. 3 UCLA softball team swept a double
header, 6-5, 3-0, against No. 21 California Wednesday afternoon at
Easton Stadium.
The Bruins (31-7, 11-3 Pac-10) trailed the Bears for the
majority of Game 1, watching as Cal (23-18, 6-8) came back from a
1-0 deficit in the first to take a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the
third.
Refusing to fold, UCLA inched back, cutting the Golden Bear lead
to two when Laurie Fritz tripled to score Christie Ambrosi in the
third. Cal took a 5-2 lead in the fourth, but the Bruins earned one
in the bottom of the inning on a single by Ambrosi to drive in
Christa Williams. UCLA added another in the fifth when Julie
Marshall scored on a Kim Wuest single.
The drama really began in the bottom of the sixth after Williams
singled and Nicole Ochoa stepped up to bat. Showing a bunt, Ochoa
pulled back into a full swing and knocked a one-hop single into the
left field wall. As Williams rounded third, she was told to hold up
and while doing so, she twisted her ankle.
"We needed to move the runners, so I put it out like I was going
to bunt it and then I brought it back," Ochoa said. "I was just
trying to make contact and it just went to the fence."
In the next at bat, Ambrosi hustled to first base to beat out a
grounder and in the process tripped over the bag. Already suffering
from a broken hand, Ambrosi lay on the ground in pain for nearly 10
minutes before heading to the dugout for another 10 to have her
ankle looked at. With play suspended due to the injury, the junior
shortstop then returned to first and finished the inning.
The Bruins ended the inning without a run, but the momentum they
had built seemed to carry over.
After pitcher B’Ann Burns held the Bears off in the top of the
seventh, senior Alleah Poulson singled to lead off the bottom of
the inning. Freshman Stacey Nuveman then capped the UCLA
performance with her 13th home run of the season.
"It was exciting to see the team come back like that," UCLA head
coach Sue Enquist said. "I knew we were capable of doing it. This
team never, ever gives up. They get all the credit doing what they
did today."
For an encore, the Bruins had to wait until the sixth inning in
the nightcap to put away the Bears, scoring the only three runs of
the game with two outs.
Pitching both games for Cal, Holly Yost kept the Bruins silent
for five innings. But after walking Nuveman to start the sixth,
Yost gave up back-to-back singles to Wuest and Johnna Mike, loading
the bases for Williams.
Williams reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases for
Ochoa. Facing a full count, the center fielder came through in the
clutch, ripping a single to center field. Ochoa cleared the bases
while advancing to third on a throwing error.
"It felt good," Ochoa said. "I just wanted to make my
contribution and I’m happy that we got the two W’s."
Ochoa becomes another in a long line of heroines for the Bruins,
who have a line-up in which any batter, one through nine, can do
damage.
"That is a sign of a very talented club when you have lots of
different stars," Enquist said. "We’ve had years where we literally
had to rely on one bat. I can look at so many bats and say all of
them could have done that.
"If you give us one swing left in the game, we are going to be
in the ball game. We proved that today."
Williams improved to 11-3 in the circle with her ninth shutout
of the season. The freshman allowed just two hits and struck out
six in seven innings.CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin
Stacey Nuveman belts a game-winning two-run home run in the
bottom of the seventh inning against Cal, 6-5.