Not too long ago, the Bruins found themselves in quite a fix, having uncharacteristically lost three of four games.
But quietly, the UCLA softball team has bounced back in the past week, starting with a pair of doubleheader sweeps against Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
By the time Friday rolled around, the Bruins had another five-game weekend on their hands and promptly took care of business.
No. 5 UCLA handily defeated Long Beach State at home 11-3 on Friday before routing UNLV twice on Saturday, an 8-0 affair followed by an 11-3 victory.
The Bruins hit the road on Sunday, but it was no matter, as they swept the doubleheader series against LMU with scores of 8-2 and 5-0 to bump their record to 26-4.
“We’re going out every single game like it’s a championship game, and our mentality is to just go out there and fight,” sophomore left fielder Andrea Harrison said. “We’re trusting each other and having each other’s back. If one person doesn’t do it, then the person right after is going to get it done.”
In the first of the five games, the Bruins and 49ers were neck-and-neck at three runs apiece through five and a half innings. But in the bottom of the sixth, UCLA loaded the bases twice and scored eight runs to end the game in six innings.
The Bruins returned to Easton Stadium on Saturday and continued the offensive surge. In game one, UCLA used a four-run fifth inning to beat UNLV by way of the mercy rule. Sophomore pitcher Aleah Macon did her part as well, tossing a complete-game shutout and allowing just four hits.
The Rebels jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game two against freshman pitcher Destiny Rodino.
But junior Donna Kerr took over in the second and neutralized the UNLV bats the rest of the way. For its part, the UCLA offense used a combination of bunts, walks and sacrifice flies to manufacture nine runs in the fourth and fifth innings and notched another mercy-rule victory, the team’s third such win in two days.
“Right now, we’re focusing on the little things,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “And those little things include getting a sacrifice bunt down, moving runners over and figuring out ways to get on base. The girls are starting to recognize that and taking pride in it.”
UCLA tacked on another two wins against LMU on Sunday to extend its winning streak to 12. The doubleheader sweep also marked the end of the non-conference portion of the season, with Pac-10 play starting on Thursday.
“It was good to end the preseason with a win,” senior catcher Kaila Shull said. “I think in the end, just knowing that we went out there and gave everything that we had is all that we can do, and (on Sunday), that gave us the win.”