The softball team used a phenomenal nonconference season to jump to No. 1 in the national rankings, winning 28 of its first 31 games.
This weekend, the Bruins started the conference slate on a similarly positive note, shutting out the Oregon schools and claiming three home wins to start the Pac-10 season.
UCLA beat Oregon State 3-0 Friday, and then topped Oregon twice, 2-0 on Saturday and 12-0 on Sunday at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins’ ace, senior Anjelica Selden, pitched Friday against Oregon State, striking out eight hitters and allowing just two hits.
The Bruins picked up two of their runs against the Beavers during the third inning. Sophomore Megan Langenfeld brought in two runners with a base hit with the bases loaded. Senior Krista Colburn recorded her 200th career hit, joining only 20 Bruins who have reached that milestone.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know until they announced it over the loudspeaker,” Colburn said. “It felt really cool. It’s a really big accomplishment.”
On Saturday the Bruins faced the Oregon Ducks and came out on top thanks to some great play by freshman pitcher Donna Kerr, Langenfeld and freshman GiOnna DiSalvatore.
DiSalvatore and Langenfeld both had an RBI, and Kerr threw nine strikeouts to hold the Ducks scoreless.
The Bruins scored early, then rested on their defense to hold onto the win. During the top of the sixth inning the bases were loaded with two outs for the Ducks, but Kerr came through with a strikeout to keep the Ducks from scoring.
Kerr had to adjust her game to be able to come through for the Bruins.
“My pitches were a little off at first, so I had to adjust my game plan going in,” Kerr said. “I had to kind of come back in and re-warm up a pitch that wasn’t working in the first few innings.”
Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez wasn’t worried about her Bruins, even in that sixth inning jam.
“At this time in the season, we hope for situations like that,” Inouye Perez said.
“We want to be able to get into those situations to be able to build our confidence that we can get out of it. The message before the game was that we want to be challenged.”
Sunday’s game completed the Bruins’ sweep of the Oregon schools.
The Bruins dominated the entire game, winning with a score of 12-0.
The Bruins took a different approach to the games this weekend in the circle, and Langenfeld pitched the last inning in each of the games.
Kerr sees each of the pitchers as equals.
“We have a strong pitching staff with (Selden) and (Langenfeld) so its equally distributed,” Kerr said.
Langenfeld is embracing her new role on the team, too.
“It’s a great opportunity to come in and close a game,” Langenfeld said. “It’s definitely a new role for me as a player, but I kind of like it.
“I don’t have to worry about tiring myself out. I have my own routine now.”
More than anything, the weekend was another step forward for this Bruin team, which is suddenly looking like a title contender.
“Every weekend we continue to get better and better and learn more about ourselves,” Inouye-Perez said.
“When you go 3-0 in the first weekend of the Pac-10, that’s a good sign of things to come,” Selden said.