The UCLA softball team’s first game against Georgia was a big one.
The Bruins brought a No. 5 ranking into the game along with a 10-2 record, while the Bulldogs sat comfortably at No. 18 with a 9-3 mark.
The teams were squaring off at the Palm Springs Classic ““ one of the biggest pre-league tournaments in the nation.
It was a very early clash between two teams bound for the postseason. The Bruins won, 5-2.
And now, nearly three months later, the two teams are at it again.
This time, the venue will be Easton Stadium.
This time, UCLA is No. 2 and Georgia No. 15.
And this time, the teams are playing for a ticket to Oklahoma City where the Women’s College World Series awaits.
As big as the game back in February may have been, it pales in comparison to this weekend’s three-game series.
“Georgia, obviously, they made it to Super Regionals; they’re a really talented team,” senior pitcher Anjelica Selden said. “It was a challenge to pitch against them. They’re scrappy and they’re fighters. Those are probably the hardest teams to pitch against because you want to come up with a good pitch, and those are the teams that are going to foul off those strikeout pitches. They’re a high-energy team. This weekend will be pretty exciting.”
The “exciting” weekend will see its first pitch thrown Saturday at 5 p.m. in the first game of the best-of-three series. Game two will kick off at 4 p.m. Sunday, and if necessary, a third and deciding game will be played shortly after the second game concludes. All three games are to be nationally televised. Saturday’s game will air on ESPN, while Sunday’s games will be available on ESPN2.
The 5-2 final score of the teams’ first matchup is slightly deceiving; the Bruins’ win was anything but comfortable. The Bulldogs scored their two runs in the top of the first and held a 2-0 lead over Selden until the bottom of the fifth. In that inning, GiOnna DiSalvatore laced a two-out double down the left-field line with the bases loaded to score three and give the Bruins their first lead of the game.
“We fought back,” senior Krista Colburn said. “We just kept fighting and kept fighting, and we just tried to scrap it out. They have a very solid team.”
In fact, the Bruins played from behind to win that game the same way they did in last weekend’s contests.
To get to the Super Regionals, UCLA had to come from behind in each of its three games to win and advance.
Although the tightly contested games might have made Bruin fans nervous, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said she is happy the team went through the experience they did.
“I think in this day and age you have to be prepared for teams that throw punches,” she said. “Every inning is a battle. The best part about being where we are is that the games (against Georgia) are going to be at home. That means we’re going to be able to throw the last punch. We play to the last out. You give us one out, just one out in any game, and we can get it done.”
UCLA’s No. 2 overall seeding is responsible for their home-field advantage at this round of the tournament. Colburn, who will be playing in her third Super Regional, said home field is certainly a welcome advantage.
“It’s a lot nicer (to play at home),” Colburn said. “We get to sleep in our own beds and play on the field that we practice at every day. I definitely think that having a home-field advantage is important this late in the game. In this NCAA Tournament, it’s important for us to take advantage of that.”
If the Bruins get past Georgia this weekend, they will be one of eight teams traveling to Oklahoma City and will be playing as early as next Thursday. Either conference foe and two-time defending champion Arizona or familiar Big-12 power Oklahoma would await UCLA as they continue their quest for a record 12th title.
And while, like always, the Bruins say they are taking things one game at a time, Selden said it is important for the team to make it to the College World Series.
“I want my underclassmen to get to that place and know that feeling of being there,” Selden said. “You’re overwhelmed with this atmosphere where every team there is going for the same thing. It’s the best of the best and it’s do or die. I just really want our team to get that feeling of being there. Just being in that environment is unreal.”
Selden’s coach feels confident they can get there.
“When we pull together and we’re all pulling in the same direction, I say watch out for whoever gets in our way,” Inouye-Perez said.