Softball hoping to strike out Arizona

Dry heat. Angry fans. Midterms. When the UCLA softball team travels to Tucson to showdown against Arizona there will be a lot on the players’ minds.

Today’s game begins what the team hopes to be their second-to-last road trip of the year.

The No. 13 Bruins (34-15 10-8 Pac-10) hope to secure home-field advantage for the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. A win against No. 3/4 Arizona (38-10-1, 14-3-1 Pac-10) will not only guarantee a winning conference record, but will also strengthen the Bruins’ ranking. For UCLA to host a regional at Easton Stadium, the team needs to stay in the top 16.

Despite all the playoff ramifications, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez has her team grounded and focused on the present.

“We’re not really looking forward just yet,” Inouye-Perez said. “We have a great opportunity to practice our game this weekend before it truly starts to count. You play the season for the playoffs.”

Inouye-Perez’s one-game-at-a-time mentality will certainly help. The Bruins are eager to avenge their loss to Arizona on Pac-10 opening weekend, an error-filled affair in which they fell 11-2. But the Bruins are optimistic.

“We love going into Arizona and beating them in their house,” junior Krista Colburn said. “(Arizona) can be seen as a hostile environment, but I think everyone’s ready. We’re excited (and) we’re calm, but we’re ready.”

The recent heat in Los Angeles helped too, Colburn noted, in preparing the Bruins for a desert environment, even though tonight’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

UCLA will have to bring its A game to the plate against a strong Wildcat pitcher. Junior Taryne Mowatt is 30-8 with 12 shutouts and a 1.51 ERA. She recently received her fourth Pac-10 pitcher of the week award for 2007.

Against the Bruins, Mowatt allowed only four runs. Colburn herself was held to just one hit in six at bats; on the year the junior is batting .400.

The challenge on the field is compounded by that of the classroom. Midterm season is coming to a close but a championship run would see the Bruins playing into 10th week. Colburn herself admitted to missing a Friday midterm.

“It’s the challenge of being a Bruin; you commit to being a student-athlete, not just an athlete,” Inouye-Perez said.

Regardless, Inouye-Perez feels her team is ready, for Arizona and beyond.

“The whole season’s not about the win or the loss, it’s about (bouncing) back when adversity hits,” she said. “We’ve got everything we need.”

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