Softball hits offensive stride in Las Vegas classic

Before the softball season began, UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez made a prediction about her offense.

“We can hit,” she said. “I feel good about us offensively.”

After the No. 4 Bruins (7-2) bombarded their way through the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic with 15 home runs, she now appears prophetic.

Or at least she knows her team pretty well.

While the Bruins did drop one game, a 7-4 loss to No. 5 Michigan on Saturday afternoon, the remainder of the weekend was an offensive explosion. On Friday night, they beat UNLV 9-7 and No. 13 Northwestern 16-10. They also took down Kentucky 9-6 on Saturday night and South Dakota State 12-0 in five innings on Sunday.

The Bruins’ offensive prowess salvaged a difficult weekend performance from the Bruins pitching staff, composed of juniors Whitney Baker and Megan Langenfeld and sophomore Donna Kerr. Kerr, for example, gave up all 10 runs, all earned, in Saturday’s wild victory over Northwestern (6-3). Five of those runs came in the first inning, which began around 10:30 p.m. The game ended after 1 a.m.

“We’re not playing perfect ball,” Inouye-Perez said. “Right now, it’s early in the season. It’s a tremendous opportunity for us to learn a lot more about ourselves.”

Take, for instance the Bruins starting shortstop Monica Harrison. The sophomore hit one home run all last year. This weekend, she knocked three out of the park: one on Friday, to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead against UNLV; a solo shot and another three-run homer.

“Monica Harrison did a wonderful job in the nine spot (of the lineup),” Inouye-Perez said. “She was able to have a great eye. She was able to come up with it when she needed to. She was able to bring us to the top of the lineup, to continue our momentum.”

The Bruins hit 36 home runs in all of 2008. After this weekend, they have moved this year’s total to 20.

This means Harrison wasn’t the only Bruin swinging for the fences, of course. Junior third baseman Julie Burney had her first career grand slam off South Dakota State’s Jenna Marston; Langenfeld notched her first of the year. Senior Amanda Kamekona, last year’s team home run leader with 14, got her first two of the season. Sophomore Katie Schroeder brought her team-leading total to six with a grand slam and two more home runs. Freshman Andrea Harrison increased her total from one to three.

“Everyone’s more powerful,” Monica Harrison said. “We’re showing that.”

The only black spot on the Bruins fantastic weekend was the loss to Michigan (8-2); after the Bruins’ nightcap ended at 1 a.m. Kerr gave up seven runs, all but one earned, in the loss. But Inouye-Perez wasn’t discouraged.

“It’s an offensive game and we’re playing it now,” she said.

The head coach was quick with an attribution for the power surge.

“I credit that, a lot, to (assistant coach) Lisa Fernandez,” Inouye-Perez said. “We’re a little older, we’re a little more mature, we’re a little stronger. But combined with the addition of Lisa, we’re seeing (offensive production as) a direct result of that.”

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