On Friday, the UCLA softball team headed into the Palm Springs
Classic with an 8-1 record, the sole loss coming two weeks ago in a
close contest against Long Beach State. The team’s offense
appeared dampened after the loss, as they scored just five runs in
the next three games.
This weekend, however, the No. 3 Bruins hit five home runs and
scored 18 times to sweep their five games in Palm Springs and
improve to 13-1 on the year. The run support and constant pressure
the Bruins applied to other teams was a great combination in coach
Sue Enquist’s eyes.
“The main positive offensively was that we were ahead of
roughly every team,” she said. “That translated into us
competing every inning, and that led to us being patient for the
runs. All the teams were extremely competitive.”
The competition and the tournament, was long and fierce. On
Friday, the Bruins took down the Ohio State Buckeyes 4-1 and the 19
ranked LSU Tigers 3-1. On Saturday, they defeated Kansas 4-3 and
No. 8 Texas A&M 5-0.
The tournament ended on Sunday, when the Bruins took on
10th-ranked Oklahoma. The Bruins won 2-0, overcoming a superb
pitching performance by the Sooners senior pitcher Nicole Denes,
who was perfect for four-and-a-third innings.
“It was the most emotionally charged game of the
weekend,” Enquist said of the game against Oklahoma. “I
liked how we turned it around and forced their defense to make
plays.”
Denes’ perfect game was disrupted by senior shortstop
Jodie Legaspi’s one-out double in the bottom of the fifth.
The Sooners responded with a threat of their own in the top of the
sixth, but sophomore pitcher Angelica Selden was able to put away
the threat. The Bruins scored the next inning when sophomore right
fielder Krista Colburn drove in junior left fielder Ashley Herrera
from third.
“(Selden) was fabulous this weekend. She’s just
really talented and a really good pitcher,” junior
pitcher/first baseman Lisa Dodd said, of Selden’s four-win
performance over the weekend. “It went really well for both
of us.”
Dodd wasn’t too shabby either. She notched a victory
against the LSU Tigers on Friday on the mound and then helped beat
Texas A&M with the bat on Saturday, going 3-for-3 with a double
and two home runs.