OKLAHOMA CITY “”mdash; She has been overshadowed by many of the
great pitchers at the Women’s College World Series, but UCLA
pitcher Anjelica Selden has quietly done her job. And considering
she is only a freshman, it makes it that much more impressive. In
three World Series games, Selden has allowed only two runs, in
large part because she has not let one bad pitch affect her.
“That’s how I measure her learning ability, what she
does after a bobble or giving up a big hit,” UCLA coach Sue
Enquist said. “That’s what I’ve stressed since
day one.” In the sixth inning of Sunday’s game against
Texas, the Longhorns had runners on second and third with one out
and their best hitter at the plate. Selden had thrown an off-target
lob to first base after fielding a grounder on the batter before,
which not only allowed the runners to be safe, but enabled them to
advance a base as well. During the regular season, Selden’s
miscues often snowballed, but on Sunday, she didn’t let the
mistake get to her, striking out the next two batters to end the
inning. Selden had to get out of an even more precarious situation
on Friday against Tennessee. With her team leading 3-1 in the
seventh inning and the Volunteers getting two runners on base, she
struck out the last batter to end the game.
RAIN AND OTHER DELAYS: Thunderstorms and tornado warnings in the
Oklahoma City area caused two of Saturday’s games to be
postponed until Sunday. One of the postponed games was between
Texas and Arizona, which gave UCLA an advantage because Longhorn
pitcher Cat Osterman had to pitch two games in one day.
LEGASPI IN THE CLUTCH: UCLA shortstop Jodie Legaspi has been
clutch for the Bruins all year, and that has continued at the World
Series, with several key RBI in the wins against Tennessee and
Texas. “The reasons for her success are two-fold,”
Enquist said. “Her swing is mechanically great and she has
confidence in the box. The two of those combined make a great
clutch-hitter.”
HENRY KEY: Bruin center fielder Tara Henry scored UCLA’s
first two runs against Tennessee on Friday after getting on base
with a hit and a walk, respectively. With a good jump, she advanced
to second base in the first inning on a Caitlin Benyi ground ball
to the pitcher, and would later score. Defensively, she threw out a
runner at second after a blast to the wall in the seventh inning.
“It was the play of the game,” Enquist said. “A
gamebreaker.”
SHORT HOPS: UCLA pinch runner Danesha Adams had to leave
Sunday’s game early to catch a flight back to Los Angeles.
When she joined the team in the last week of the regular season,
Enquist made an agreement with Adams that the freshman would not
have to miss any class time. Adams was not available for
Thursday’s game but pinch ran on Friday.