The top-ranked UCLA softball team may be loaded with offensive,
defensive and pitching talent.
But against good teams in softball, it often takes the little
things on top of talent to win.
UCLA had a weekend sweep against two top teams, beating rival
No. 3 Arizona 8-2 on Friday and winning against No. 7 Arizona State
1-0 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday.
“We just did a lot of little things right,” UCLA
coach Sue Enquist said. “When you get a team that buys into
itself, it’s tough to beat us with our talent. They go up
there offensively carrying out a plan, but they know if they
don’t do it the person behind them will.”
The Bruins did show some power and make a few flashy plays over
the weekend, but it was the sound fundamentals that set all those
up.
Senior Andrea Duran got the big hit in Sunday’s game, with
a two-out single that drove in two runs in the fourth inning to
give UCLA a 3-1 lead. But earlier in the inning, UCLA executed two
sacrifice bunts, one resulting in an Arizona State error.
On top of that, junior pinch hitter Kristen Dedmon got hit by a
pitch to load the bases, and junior Jodie Legaspi slid into a
force-out at home plate that may have helped break up a potential
inning-ending double play.
“You get the bunt down, you put the runner in scoring
position, Dedmon takes the hit. Those things matter,” Enquist
said. “Dedmon knows she’s capable of changing the game
with one swing, and she goes in there and takes the hit. Those
things matter.”
The little things happened throughout the weekend, not just on
Sunday.
In Friday’s win, UCLA scored its first run with the help
of a sacrifice and its second run with the help of a stolen base.
The lead helped UCLA break the game open later with three home
runs, one by senior catcher Emily Zaplatosch and two by Duran.
Duran’s second home run of the day was a grand slam, and
she ended up with six RBI over the weekend.
“I’m just trying to react to pitches,” Duran
said. “I’m not trying to guess. I’m just trying
to keep everything simple. Whatever happens happens.”
Saturday, UCLA scored its only run in the bottom of the sixth
when senior Caitlin Benyi ran home on a wild pitch. Benyi had only
reached base after a triple that went in and out of the glove of
Arizona State’s right fielder. Benyi’s hustle let her
go all the way to third on the play and eventually score on the
wild pitch.
“You’re at a point in the season where you want to
be able to sustain your consistency,” Enquist said. “I
felt like we did that this weekend against two excellent clubs.
Things are coming together in terms of making adjustments during
the game.”
Sophomore pitcher Anjelica Selden got the win in all three
games, starting Friday and Sunday and entering Saturday’s
game in relief of junior Lisa Dodd. Saturday, Dodd had a no-hitter
through five innings before being pulled in the sixth after
allowing one hit.
The weekend sweep solidifies UCLA’s (40-5, 12-3 Pac-10)
spot on top of the conference standings and the national
rankings.
“Any time we can sweep the Arizona schools, it’s
huge,” Zaplatosch said. “We had consistency.
We’re putting the ball in play. It’s as simple as
that.”
With six games to play, the Bruins are two and a half games up
on Oregon State in the standings, and the two teams face each other
twice this weekend in Corvallis, Ore.
Sunday’s game was UCLA’s last home game of the
regular season, but the Bruins will very likely host the NCAA
Regionals, which start on May 19.