For most of this season, the UCLA softball team has been unable
to find any semblance of offensive consistency. At times, the
Bruins would look like the high-powered team that won NCAA titles
the last two years. But that run would frequently be followed by a
prolonged slump. In the last three weeks of the regular season,
however, the Bruins have seemed to hit their stride. They have
scored at least five runs in seven of their last nine games while
facing teams with some of the best pitchers in the country. This
weekend, UCLA hopes to keep up their offensive output while hosting
the NCAA Regional at Easton Stadium. “It’s
great,” said third baseman Andrea Duran, who leads the team
in hitting with a .376 average. “I love it when this whole
team is hitting.” During its slumps, the Bruins struggled to
get hits or people on base. UCLA coach Sue Enquist felt the
offensive droughts were mainly due to a lack of timely hitting and
an absence of extra-base hits. Recently, however, the Bruins have
been taking advantage of most opportunities. “The difference
has been our clutch hitting,” coach Sue Enquist said.
“We’re capitalizing with runners on base and moving
runners over.” Second baseman Caitlin Benyi has been the
biggest factor in the Bruins’ offensive explosive explosion
of late, belting five home runs in the team’s last six games.
Benyi had been hitting for average all season, but the power was
missing after finishing as the NCAA’s home run leader a year
ago with 24. She had only five long balls entering the last two
weeks of the season, but now she has 10. “When you stop
thinking about the home runs, you start hitting them out of the
park,” Enquist said. “It’s been great to see her
go yard.” Another Bruin hitting for power lately is shortstop
Jodie Legaspi, who has had many clutch hits and home runs during
UCLA’s hot streak against conference co-champions Arizona and
Oregon State. “It’s nice to see Jodie coming through
like this,” Enquist said.
TOURNAMENT NOTES: Although UCLA, as a No. 7 seed, will be able
to host an NCAA Regional, not every seeded team was given that
opportunity. No. 6 Stanford was shipped out to Wisconsin and No. 2
California will be playing in Fresno, partly because its facility
isn’t considered to be as well-equipped as the nearest host
sites. The NCAA Softball Selection Committee often has geographical
conflicts when choosing which schools will host a regional because
most softball teams play on the East Coast while most of the elite
teams in the nation are in the West. Based on teams’ records
and RPI, most of the regionals in the East are easier than those in
the West. Teams like Stanford are often shipped East in order to
create a competitive balance. “If our numbers were through
the roof, we would’ve probably been sent out [East],”
Enquist said. UCLA and No. 3 Arizona were the only ones given
regionals to host out of the upper echelon teams on the West Coast.
Cal, Stanford, No. 8 Oregon State and No. 16 Washington must travel
for regionals. And while on paper UCLA has a slightly tougher
regional than most of those in the rest of the country, the team is
happy to be staying in Westwood. “Anytime you get to play in
front of the home crowd, it’s a bonus,” Duran said.
“Also, we don’t have to worry about
traveling.”
SHORT HOPS: All eight Pac-10 teams made it to the NCAA
Tournament, and five are seeded in the top eight. It’s the
second time in three years all eight have made the tournament
field, with seven of the eight qualifying in 2004. … Duran was
considered for the Pac-10 Player of the Week award, but not given
the honor. … The NCAA Regional at Fresno State will start today
to accommodate BYU so it will not have to potentially play on
Sunday.