If at first you don’t succeed, change your lineup.
It seems like an odd strategy for softball coach Sue Enquist to
use just weeks before the postseason, but it worked.
After the Bruins lost 2-1 at Cal on Friday, Enquist overhauled
her lineup. Third-ranked UCLA (36-9, 9-8 Pac-10) responded, scoring
13 runs in a pair of wins against No. 7 Stanford.
“I’m just trying to do what I can to put people in
the best position to succeed,” Enquist said.
By this point in the season, Enquist has usually settled on a
lineup to take into the postseason.
But this year she has used three different lineups in the past
three weeks ““ including moving some of the team’s best
hitters.
Enquist said she is still trying to figure out how to best
utilize her players because of their versatility.
“It’s a wonderful problem to have as a coach,”
Enquist said. “I’m just trying to find the right
order.”
She does not have much time to keep tinkering, with only three
games left before regionals.
There could be more changes coming up, and the players said they
would be able to adjust.
“We know that when it does come down to it, we can deal
with changes,” sophomore Caitlin Benyi said.
Benyi was moved from third in the lineup back to the leadoff
position on Saturday. She had been batting leadoff for most of the
year, despite leading the team in home runs.
Two weeks ago Enquist moved Benyi to third in the lineup to try
to give her more RBI opportunities.
UCLA won five straight games after the first lineup change, but
then the offense could only manage one run in two games.
Scoring has yet to be a problem for the latest lineup after 6-2
and 7-1 wins against Stanford (41-15, 11-7).
Benyi was the top hitter, going 5-for-8 with a pair of homers
since moving back to leadoff.
“It’s back to normal,” Benyi said. “For
me it doesn’t really matter. It’s all the same to
me.”
Freshman Lisa Dodd was moved up to the third spot in the lineup,
filling in for Benyi.
Dodd has struggled at the plate in the Pac-10, with one of the
lowest batting averages of the seven UCLA regulars.
But Enquist said she has been the best player on the team at
moving runners, and she will get a lot of opportunities to do so
batting third.
One of the few players who did not move is senior Claire Sua,
who has hit in the cleanup spot all season.
She was the offensive star of Saturday’s game, breaking a
2-2 tie with a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning.
“I was just going up trying to get a base hit and I knew
someone would score,” Sua said. “It didn’t matter
if I got one or four, I was just looking to get a base
hit.”
Senior Stephanie Ramos ““ one of the Bruins’ best
hitters this year ““ was moved into the fifth spot after
Friday’s game against No. 4 Cal (43-11, 10-8) to try to make
teams pitch to Sua.
Enquist changed players in the last two lineup slots. Over the
weekend all three designated players ““ sophomore Alissa Eno
and freshmen Whitney Holum and Kristen Dedmon ““ got a
start.
Finally, freshman Ashley Herrera was inserted into the ninth
spot. She got the team on the board on Sunday with a two-run homer,
her first of conference play.
The changes have worked for now, and confidence is high that the
players will respond to more changes if they should occur.
“Our team is really flexible,” Sua said. “I
don’t think it really matters to any of us.”