Last year was an interesting one for NCAA softball: It was the first time in 21 years that neither UCLA nor Arizona played in the championship game.
But just as things change, they stay the same. The national champion was the other school from Arizona, Arizona State. The Sun Devil’s emergence and championship reinforced the Pac-10’s position as one of the most elite power conferences in college softball. But Arizona State’s dominance also creates new challenges for the rest of the league.
“We have built that reputation through the years. It’s been the dominant conference in the history of the game,” Bruin coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “I’m proud that the Pac-10 is the strongest conference.”
It’s not just conference pride that elicits Inouye-Perez’s praise. She said she looks forward to playing the Pac-10 portion of the season because she expects to see those opponents in the postseason.
Who are those probable postseason opponents? After the first weekend, No. 4 ASU (31-5, 3-0 Pac-10) and No. 9 Arizona (31-7, 3-0 Pac-10) sit atop the conference. However, their perfect records are the result of wins over Oregon State (16-16, 1-3 Pac-10) and Oregon (10-20, 0-3 Pac-10). But while ASU destroyed the Oregon teams last weekend, winning each game by a mercy rule, Arizona squeaked by Oregon with a 7-6 victory on Sunday.
It’s that level of competition, from top to bottom, that makes the Pac-10 such a powerful league.
“Every game that we play is a great opportunity for us to play championship ball,” Inouye-Perez said. “You’re going to get an opponent that can go head-to-head with you.”
The season is almost like a round-robin, barroom brawl in that regard. Everyone gets a chance to knock down everyone else. No. 14 California (25-9, 2-1 Pac-10) beat No. 7 UCLA (26-6, 1-2 Pac-10) twice last weekend, 7-6 and 9-5. Earlier in the weekend, UCLA beat No. 2 Stanford 7-4 (31-2, 2-1 Pac-10). After losing to UCLA, Stanford beat No. 3 Washington (28-5, 1-2 Pac-10) twice. Before Washington lost to Stanford, they had beaten Cal 9-1.
Confused? Inouye-Perez had a possible explanation.
“That’s a product of one weekend,” she said. “It’s the first round of Pac-10.”
SHULL A FINALIST: UCLA junior catcher Kaila Shull was named one of the 25 finalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year Award on Wednesday.
Shull holds a team-high batting average of .406, with 44 runs batted in and a .781 slugging percentage.
The list of 25 finalists will be trimmed to 10 on May 6, and then trimmed down again to three on May 20. The winner will be announced prior to the College World Series.
Bruin Sports senior staff writer Matt Stevens contributed to this report.