After a dismal weekend, the UCLA softball team hopes to speed its recovery with a taste of home-cooked Highlander when the Bruins take on UC Riverside today.
The third-ranked Bruin team hopes that their great play at home, good for a .822 winning percentage, will aid in a recovery from the Kajiwara Classic. In coach Kelly Inouye-Perez’s inaugural weekend, the Bruins suffered from an injury, a bevy of defensive errors and a lack of offense, culminating in Saturday’s embarrassment by New Mexico.
The 13-1 loss was the Bruins’ worst in almost a decade. But a Bruin win over Nevada on Sunday helped get them over the hump and ready for Riverside on Tuesday.
“I’m proud of the way they recovered,” Inouye-Perez said of the team. “We ended with a great game (Sunday). Things just didn’t work out (earlier in the week).”
Missing was the Bruin offense, in sharp contrast to the way the team started last year. The Bruins opened 2006 by rolling over Sacramento State 22-3, then following up with a 13-0 drubbing of Cal Poly. They ended up sweeping the Campbell/Cartier Tournament in San Diego, going 5-0 to start the season.
An example of this year’s struggle? Prominent in last year’s opening tournament was senior Lisa Dodd, who went a healthy 6-for-15 while driving in eight en route to a magnificent start to the season. This year, Dodd went 2-for-10.
But Inouye-Perez is confident in the ability of the upperclassmen. She saw the tournament as an opportunity to educate the younger players.
“The weekend was really a chance to get some experience for the freshmen. We’re too full of holes vacated in last years lineup. We graduated three starting seniors,” Inouye-Perez said.
Inouye-Perez is looking to the future, as 2007 will see the ends of careers for nine seniors. And it wasn’t as if the freshmen didn’t suceeed.
Julie Burney hit a home run in the game against Nevada after stepping in for the injured senior Ashley Herrera, and pitcher Megan Langenfeld (2-1) started three games. Also contributing was pitcher Whitney Baker, who helped close out the game against Syracuse. Kaila Shull had success at catcher, giving senior Jaisa Creps a much needed respite on the long Friday and Saturday.
Despite the trial by ordeal, Inouye-Perez was in good spirits after Sunday’s win.
“I got to practice dealing with adversity,” she joked.