Spring break may have come and gone, but that was hardly the case for the UCLA softball team.
While most students enjoyed a week’s worth of a getaway, the No. 5 Bruins were busy playing a doubleheader and hitting the road to open up Pac-10 play, adding another five games to their season total.
By the end of the week, there was much left to be desired. UCLA (26-6, 1-2 Pac-10) went a disappointing 2-3 over the five-game stretch. Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said the losses were due not so much to being outplayed but to the team’s own struggles to perform.
“Clearly, there was a lack of execution on our part,” Inouye-Perez said. “Very simply put, we fell short in all aspects of our game, and when that happens, we won’t be able to get the wins that we want.”
The Bruins started off with a split in a doubleheader against UC Santa Barbara on March 24 at Easton Stadium, cruising to an 8-0 win in the first game before falling to the Gauchos 7-2 in the nightcap.
Seeking redemption, the team traveled north to begin its Pac-10 season. The Bruins faced off against No. 3 Stanford on Friday and soundly defeated the Cardinal 7-4, dealing their opponents just the second loss of their season.
But things unraveled from there on as UCLA fell short against No. 12 Cal, 7-6 on Saturday before losing again on Sunday, 9-5.
Overall, coaches and players agree that the flaws boiled down to executing the fundamentals of the game.
“The name of the game is the ability to have solid pitching and timely hitting, and we were struggling a bit there,” Inouye-Perez said. “Our ability to continue to have consistent timely hitting in particular is key for us.”
“We left a lot of runners on base, and that just means we didn’t capitalize on more scoring opportunities,” senior shortstop Amanda Kamekona added. “Obviously, we need to do a better job of scoring the runners home but also focus on not giving up so many runs.”
That said, the Bruins understand full well that, despite the losses, time is on their side, and the taste of defeat can help them improve.
“I look at this as a great opportunity for us to learn a lot about who we are and the different ways in which we’re going to try to win,” Inouye-Perez said. “As long as we continue to learn, then it’s simply a matter of the game testing us to see if we will make the adjustments in the game.”