After a 7-0 loss taints the finish of a season-opening softball tournament, one might expect a team to dwell on the loss. Maybe the losing team pays more attention if the loss is at home. Maybe it stings more if the losing team had beaten the victor in the opening round.
Maybe, if that team isn’t UCLA.
The No. 6 Bruins (4-1) have shrugged off their Sunday loss to No. 9 Oklahoma. The Bruins had defeated the Sooners 6-1) in the tournament’s opening game. This weekend, they head to Las Vegas for the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.
“I couldn’t ask for more in a first weekend, as a head coach,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez, who considers the first weekend a success, even with the loss.
“We learned that if you don’t respect the game or your opponent, they can kick you in the face,” Inouye-Perez said. “I’m excited about what we learned … (and) to see how this team responds. The fact still remains that we’re a talented group.”
From top to bottom, the Bruins are talented. Two seniors are on player of the year watch lists: pitcher Anjelica Selden and outfielder Krista Colburn. Five of eight freshman won gold in the Junior Women’s World Championship in June.
“(We have) a senior class that’s been to a World Series, been in seasons where there’s been a roller coaster or (seasons) where we’ve cruised,” said Selden, UCLA’s all-time leader in strikeouts. “We have a really experienced senior class and a really talented freshman class.
“I feel really good about this weekend.”
The Bruins have reason to feel good about this weekend, even if the schedule is grueling. They face No. 22 Missouri first thing Friday morning, and play South Carolina immediately after. The Bruins are 8-0 against the Tigers and are 10-1 against the Gamecocks. Their one loss to South Carolina came in the 2002 NCAA Regionals in Columbia, S.C., and was swiftly revenged, with the Bruins moving onto the College World Series.
Other than those two teams, the Bruins don’t have much to worry about. Saturday’s doubleheader features Illinois, whom they haven’t played, and Portland State. The Vikings are 0-3 against the Bruins and have lost by five runs in every contest.
UCLA will face a less imposing team Sunday, too, against Wisconsin. The Bruins are 5-0 against the Badgers and have scored 32 runs to the Badgers’ three.
Even though they have good history against their opponents, the Bruins remain focused. Even though they lost to the Sooners, who will also be attending the Desert Classic, they will take things slowly.
“One pitch at a time,” Inouye-Perez said. “It comes down to the philosophy that you only have control over two things: how hard you try ““ your effort ““ and your attitude. … If I can control those (aspects), we are as prepared as we can be.”