Down to its last three games of the season, the UCLA softball team has a Pac-10 conference title riding on its final home stand.
When the No. 2 Bruins (38-9, 13-5 Pac-10) square off against No. 12 California (34-16, 9-8) today at 1 p.m. at Easton Stadium, they will have an opportunity to seek redemption against a team that defeated them twice earlier in the year.
Afterward, UCLA will face No. 1 Stanford (44-6, 13-5) on Friday and Saturday, a pair of pivotal games in terms of the conference standings.
UCLA and Stanford currently sit atop the Pac-10 tied for first place, with Washington a game back and Arizona a game and a half back of the lead.
“The Pac-10 race is really close, but we’re going to approach (the upcoming games) as normal games,” junior pitcher Megan Langenfeld said. “If we put too much pressure on ourselves, we won’t play the type of ball that we want to play.”
The Bruins have played well as of late, a testament to strides they have made since they went 1-2 on a three-game road trip in which Cal dealt both losses.
Each of the two games was a high-scoring affair. The Golden Bears squeaked by the Bruins 7-6 on March 28 and collected another victory a day later with a 9-5 upset.
“We have some unfinished business with Cal,” junior third baseman Julie Burney said.
“We feel that we did not play UCLA softball the first two times around,” Langenfeld said. “It wasn’t even close to what we know we’re capable of doing.”
On the other hand, the Bruins enjoyed some early-season success against Stanford.
UCLA defeated Stanford 7-4 on March 27, snapping the Cardinal’s 28-game winning streak. In that game, the Bruins scored six runs against senior pitcher Missy Penna. But the Bruins will be hard-pressed to enjoy another offensive outburst against the Cardinal.
On the season, Penna boasts a 31-4 record to go along with a 1.35 ERA and 310 strikeouts in 244.1 innings.
“We were successful last time because we showed good discipline at the plate,” Langenfeld said. “If we want to have that same success against Stanford, then we’re going to have to have the same approach and wait for the good pitches.”