The No. 4 UCLA women’s softball team roared into Lakewood
this weekend, winning all five of their games to sweep the Long
Beach State Invitational and continue a remarkable 20-game winning
streak.
It was raining once again this weekend, but the wet weather was
no match for the Bruins’ determination and skill.
“We can play when it’s cold. We can play when
it’s wet. We can play when it’s windy,” coach Sue
Enquist said.
“I’m proud of our consistent play, day after day. I
just felt like we did a terrific job with our energy and our
focus.”
Friday, the UCLA defeated 23rd-ranked Mississippi State, 2-0,
behind the right arm of junior Lisa Dodd (11-0), who pitched seven
scoreless innings and yielded only three hits.
On Saturday, the Bruins shut out Mercer and Syracuse, 8-0 and
3-0, respectively. The Bruins got a boost from an inside-the-park
homerun by junior shortstop Jodie Legaspi and a four-run third
inning rally to beat the Mercer Bears.
Later in the afternoon, Colburn became the first Bruin in 11
years to triple twice in one game against the Syracuse Orange.
UCLA carried its momentum from Saturday right through the end of
the weekend.
Sophomore Anjelica Selden (14-1) struck out fourteen and walked
one while senior second baseman Caitlin Benyi, who returned to the
Bruin line-up last week after missing eight games with a tweaked
right ankle, hit her 50th career home run en route to a 3-0 one-hit
victory over Mississippi State.
Then the Bruins promptly beat the 49ers, 4-2, avenging their
only loss on the season.
“I love it when our team has an opportunity to redeem
themselves. Normally you don’t have (that
opportunity),” Enquist said.
Dodd took the circle for the second time in the tournament and
got the win, while Benyi launched a two-run homerun and Colburn
tripled for the third time in the series.
“Our strength coach has worked with us a lot. I’ve
gotten a lot faster since last year, I’d attribute it to that
a lot,” Colburn said.
Overall, Enquist was enthused about the performance of her
players, both on and off the field.
“The defense made plays when they needed to, and we had
some awesome offensive performances. The dugout also really became
a part of the game. They really became a force to emotionally
charge the team,” she said.