OKLAHOMA CITY “”mdash; UCLA was not the only underdog to pull off
an upset on Thursday at the Women’s College World Series. In
the first game of the day, No. 11 Tennessee defeated No. 3 Arizona
1-0, meaning the Bruins, 2-1 winners over Cal, will face the Lady
Volunteers today instead of the Wildcats. Though it would appear
UCLA caught a lucky break avoiding third-seeded Arizona, the Bruins
believe they will have their hands full with Tennessee (65-13). The
Lady Volunteers feature pitcher Monica Abbott, who has pitched six
straight shutouts and was second in the nation in strikeouts to
Texas’ Cat Osterman. Abbott pitched a gem against Arizona on
Thursday, allowing only one hit and striking out 12 Wildcat
batters. “(Abbott) really did put the ball all over the
place, and I never really knew what was coming,” said
Arizona’s Caitlin Lowe, who is an All-American and has the
second-highest batting average in the NCAA. The winner of
today’s UCLA-Tennessee game will be favored to advance to the
best-of-three championship series, needing to win only one game in
two tries on Sunday. The loser of the UCLA-Tennessee game will play
Saturday at 6 p.m. PST and also have to win twice on Sunday to
advance to the championship series.
SMALL BALL: Just as she has for the last two months, UCLA coach
Sue Enquist has been having her team play small ball as much as
possible, bunting regularly and with any hitter in the lineup.
Kristen Dedmon, normally a power hitter, successfully laid down a
bunt on Thursday for her first sacrifice of the year. But in one
particular instance, a different form of small ball paid off. With
UCLA’s Caitlin Benyi on first and no outs, Bruin catcher
Emily Zaplatosch executed a hit-and-run, lining a single through
the infield. The Bruins would score the go-ahead later in the
inning because of the hit-and-run play. “You’ve got to
move the runner over,” Zaplatosch said. “You have to
let the game dictate what you do in a situation and capitalize on
your opportunities.”
BOTTOM OF THE ORDER: Enquist has praised her bottom of the order
throughout the year, saying that those hitters set the table for
the batters at the top of the lineup. But Thursday, UCLA’s
bottom of the order didn’t just set the table for the Bruins,
it was UCLA’s entire offense. Ashley Herrera, the
Bruins’ No. 9 hitter, clubbed a home run, which coupled with
No. 7 hitter Krista Colburn’s RBI single, accounted for
UCLA’s two runs. “They are critical to our team,”
Enquist said. “We wouldn’t be here without
them.”
ALL-AMERICANS ANNOUNCED: The National Fastpitch Coaches
Assocation announced the All-America teams. Both Anjelica Selden
and Benyi were named to the second team from UCLA.