Sunday’s softball game at Easton Stadium easily could have been mistaken for batting practice.
At least two doubles found the deepest part of center field and smashed off the wall, just under the yellow home-run line.
Then, in the sixth inning, senior second baseman Amanda Kamekona had had enough.
On a 2-1 fastball that caught a little too much of the plate, Kamekona sprung out of her compact batting stance and plastered the ball.
There was no doubt about this one.
The ball sailed several feet over the fence in left-center field, to bring home three runs and end the 9-1 game early with a mercy rule.
Batting practice over.
“Our focus now is not to just finish because we know we are going to postseason,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “That’s not a reason for us to let up.”
The Bruins (38-9, 13-5 Pac-10) kept the pressure on against the Oregon schools throughout this weekend, sweeping the three-game series in convincing fashion.
UCLA beat Oregon (15-32, 2-16) 8-0 by way of the mercy rule in six innings on Friday and stayed in control during a 4-3 win against Oregon State (24-28, 3-15) on Saturday before finishing off its weekend an inning early again on Sunday.
The three-game sweep kept the Bruins in a tie with Stanford for first place in the conference. The two teams will meet each other at Easton next weekend.
Sophomore pitcher Donna Kerr added two wins to her tally this weekend and dominated on both Friday and Sunday, pitching 12 innings of two-hit softball over the two-day stretch.
Kerr fanned 15 batters in the two contests and seemed to have a snap on her fastball that had been missing through the middle of the season.
“I feel like I have a lot more confidence out there,” Kerr said. “My pitches are just a littler crisper than they have been in the last couple weeks, which is what I needed.”
Kerr’s dominance in the circle, combined with the Bruins’ continued solid hitting, spelled trouble for Oregon State on Sunday.
UCLA broke things open in the bottom of the third inning when junior first baseman Megan Langenfeld lined a 3-1 pitch to left-center field to put the Bruins on the board.
Sophomore GiOnna DiSalvatore then plated the two base runners with a two-RBI single on a ground ball she smacked straight up the middle. The three runs that inning were all UCLA would need.
“To win at home is big, and to be able to take care of business against opponents you should win against, those are things that are important,” Inouye-Perez said. “Because we know that at any point you can overlook an opponent and fall short, and we can’t afford to do that right now.”
DiSalvatore enjoyed a particularly good weekend at the plate, going 6 for 10 with six RBI in the three games.
She also had perhaps the most clutch hit of the weekend, knocking in the game-winning run in Saturday’s 4-3 contest.
“I always love being the one up with the game on the line,” DiSalvatore said. “I live for that moment. … (Saturday) I got the payout.”
CANCER AWARENESS DAY: Sunday, all members of the UCLA softball team wore pink headbands and ribbons over their hearts to advance cancer awareness and honor the memory of Cheyenne Broswell, a 9-year-old girl who lost her fight with brain cancer in March.
The team had named the 9-year-old an honorary Bruin and assigned her a locker. She visited with the team several times, and Inouye-Perez said her contributions were inspirational.
“We have a personal connection, with our little Cheyenne,” she said. “I have no regrets. I think it was a great opportunity for us to have our paths cross with a wonderful little girl Cheyenne. She taught us how to laugh a lot, she taught us how to keep on fighting, she had a brave heart, and every time she came, she pumped up this team.
“We are now family with her family for life.”