After falling just short in its bid for a national title last
season, the UCLA softball team begins a new title hunt today.
The Bruins are traveling to San Diego to participate in the
Campbell/Cartier Tournament, where they will begin by facing
Sacramento State at 3 p.m. today and end the day by taking on Cal
Poly San Luis Obispo at 7 p.m.
“I’m excited for the team,” UCLA head coach
Sue Enquist said. “They’ve certainly been ready to put
their uniforms on. The opening weekend is a barometer of what we
need to do and what we need to work on.”
The Bruins begin the season with an almost identical lineup to
the one they had last season. The only player from last
season’s roster who isn’t still with the team is backup
catcher Nicole Sandberg, who didn’t play in a game in
2005.
The fact that the Bruins have nearly the same team they had last
year has given the group instant chemistry that has developed over
the last two seasons.
“As far as the team morale, team attitude, and where
we’re at as a team right now, it’s pretty much
amazing,” senior second baseman Caitlin Benyi said.
“We’re all getting along and we’re just really
cooking together very nicely.”
While UCLA’s opponents in this weekend’s tournament
aren’t considered to be among the elite teams in the nation,
they should still provide a relatively early challenge for
UCLA.
The Sacramento State Hornets return 14 players from last
year’s squad, which went 30-23 and 12-7 in the Pacific Coast
Softball Conference. They defeated the Bruins 2-1 in their last
meeting at the Paradise Softball Classic in Honolulu.
The Cal Poly Mustangs were 35-16 last season and 15-6 in the Big
West conference. Former UCLA star pitcher Keira Goerl and first
baseman Claire Sua are the Mustangs’ two assistant
coaches.
“I think my biggest challenge to the players is that I
want to see us be solid on defense,” Enquist said.
“There are years when the offense will show up right away and
that’s great.
“There are also times when the offense is very sporadic.
I’m really looking forward to seeing us play on defense and
seeing if we can play sharp right off the bat.”
And for Enquist, just because this is the beginning of the
season doesn’t give her team an excuse to come out
sloppy.
“To just say that it’s the first game this weekend,
that’s just a cop out,” Enquist said.
“They’re experienced, they know their roles, they know
their defensive sets. If we just play our game and do our deal,
we’ll get it done.”