In what was a day full of highs and lows for the UCLA softball
team, the Bruins ended up on top. No. 1 UCLA split a double header
with No. 16 Washington (30-16, 4-8 Pac-10) on Wednesday, falling in
Game 1, 3-2, in 12 innings while triumphing in the finale by a
score of 7-6. “I think that’s the one characteristic of
this team: their resiliency,” coach Sue Enquist said.
“Their ability to emotionally recover and come back says a
lot because we dug ourselves a pretty big hole.” The
afternoon started fine for the Bruins (37-5, 9-3) as they resumed a
game that started two weeks ago in Washington but was postponed
because of rain. Junior Lisa Dodd blasted a solo home run and
senior Caitlin Benyi’s RBI single in the top of the fifth
gave the Bruins a quick 2-0 lead. But the Huskies came back against
Dodd in the sixth inning, scoring on an RBI triple by first baseman
Ashley Charters and a successful squeeze bunt by third baseman
Sarah Hyatt. The pitching for both teams bore down after the sixth.
Danielle Lawrie set a new Husky record for strikeouts in a game
with 19. And sophomore pitcher Anjelica Selden relieved Dodd in the
the seventh and faced the minimum 17 hitters through 5 2/3 innings.
But in the 12th inning after getting the first two Huskies out,
Selden ran into trouble. Husky center fielder Aimee Minor hit a
sinking line drive double. With Minor running on the play, Husky
left fielder Dena Tyson lined a ball up the middle off of
Selden’s glove. She tried to recover and make a quick throw
to first, but the throw was in the dirt. A heads-up Minor kept
running to score the winning run. “We did the best job
offensively and defensively that we could,” Selden said.
“You just have to tip your hat to the other pitcher for
holding us like that.” The second game didn’t begin too
smoothly for Selden. Minor and Hyatt hit back-to-back home runs in
the third inning off of Selden, and the Huskies jumped to a 4-0
lead. But the Bruins struck back in the fourth with six runs,
capped by a three-run home run by Dodd off of Lawrie. The home run
was Dodd’s second of the game, and it came at a huge time for
the Bruins, who looked like they were going to be swept by a team
that came in tied for last in the Pac-10. “Dodd has a very
specific zone that she’s looking for, and (Lawrie) put it
there,” Enquist said. “Lisa Dodd is clutch-straight
up.” But just when it seemed like Selden was settling down
and the Bruins would come away with a split up 7-5 in the seventh
inning, UCLA got a big scare. Selden allowed the first four Huskies
to reach base in the inning on a walk, a double, an RBI single and
another walk. The Huskies, now within one run at 7-6, were in a
great position with the bases loaded and nobody out. But Selden
saved her best for last. In her 13th inning of the day, Selden
reared back with her best and hardest pitches of the day to strike
out Tyson. Selden kept up her dominance by getting Husky catcher
Alicia Matthews to hit a shallow pop-up to center field and strike
out designated player Brooke Woodward with pure heat to complete a
hard-fought Bruin victory. “Sometimes I like to get ahead of
myself and I start speeding up and I just have to catch
myself” Selden said. “When the bases were loaded, I
just took a deep breath and tried to be more consistent with each
pitch instead of trying to end it right away.”
EXTRA BASES: If Lisa Dodd hits a home run off Danielle Lawrie
again, Whitney Holum might hope she isn’t the one hitting
behind Dodd. Holum was drilled twice near the head by Lawrie
fastballs after each of Dodd’s homers. The second time,
Enquist came out and to talk with the umpires before returning to
coach third base. … After passing DeeDee Weiman for fifth all
time on the UCLA career strikeout list last weekend, Selden
recently moved up another notch. The sophomore pitcher who had 16
strikeouts in her two games against Washington, surpassed Amanda
Freed for No. 4 four on the list and now has 764 career strikeouts.
Selden is now just 22 strikeouts away from surpassing Lisa
Fernandez at No. 3.