In typical UCLA softball standards, Wednesday’s matchup against Cal State Fullerton was a sheer anomaly.
Four errors, seven hits allowed and 12 runners left on base altered the Bruins’ pursuit of an abbreviated, go-home-early victory into a search for a win by any means possible.
With that said, No. 3 UCLA (11-1) will look to revert back to its old, dominant ways with another slew of games on tap for this weekend at the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs. First up is a meeting with Colorado State (4-5) at 6 p.m. followed by another with No. 13 Texas (11-1) at 8:30 p.m. The Bruins then follow up with another doubleheader on Saturday against Baylor (6-4) and No. 22 Northwestern (5-5), with a game against No. 16 Ohio State (6-4) on Sunday to round out the weekend.
Of those five opponents, the Bruins played only Colorado State and Northwestern last season.
“We haven’t seen some of those teams in a while, so we don’t really know what to expect,” senior third baseman Julie Burney said. “But we’re just going to take it one game at a time and do what we do best: hit the ball, play solid defense and stay consistent.”
What the Bruins can carry over into their trip east is the stellar showing from their freshmen on Wednesday, including arguably B.B. Bates’ best performance of the season. In addition, center fielder Devon Lindvall executed a sacrifice bunt, while first baseman Charlotte Dolan went one-for-two and drew two walks of her own.
“For B.B. to come up and have that big blast puts it in her basket of things that she is capable of doing,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “Also, we saw some quality at-bats from the other freshmen in being patient and finding ways to get on base. Those are all things that can lead to an advantage so that you don’t have to be so perfect in the end.”
Just as impressive was pitcher Aleah Macon, who allowed one unearned run through 5 1-3 innings. So far on the season, the sophomore transfer is 3-0 with a 0.33 earned run average, second lowest on the team behind senior Megan Langenfeld’s 0.27 ERA.
“(Macon) is just a fighter,” Bates said. “She knows how to bounce back and never gives up. She has that heart to work hard, so we believe in her, and we know that she can do (well).”