Elevated throughout the outfield at Easton Stadium, including in front of the raised scoreboard in left field, is black netting meant to keep softballs inside the ballpark.
One thing became apparent as UCLA launched five home runs into the protective netting beyond outfield during its 14-3 shellacking of visiting Michigan State on Wednesday night ““ the Bruins can hit.
And they can hit with power.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, hitting is only half the job, and for the team to go where it wants to go this year, the players understand that the ball needs to find the webbing of their gloves more consistently than it has so far.
UCLA (15-6) will get that opportunity when it plays in the Long Beach State Invitational, the last of five preseason tournaments, beginning today in Lakewood.
“We’re building confidence and working on our consistency defensively,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said.
“I look forward to getting a lot more practice, and that’s where we are right now is we’re going to throw them back out there and continue to work at it because in the end defense wins championships.”
Despite the Bruins’ struggles defensively and in the pitching circle, the team has managed to hit the ball hard all season totaling 27 home runs in 21 games.
“We’re just trying to take it out of the park you know, trying to break the net,” sophomore shortstop Kellie Fox said with a laugh after hitting two on Wednesday.
Redshirt senior infielder Samantha Camuso noticed the similarity between the Bruins’ hitting prowess this year with another team she was a part of, the 2010 national champions.
“Well, (in) 2010 we hit pretty well, too, but 1-9, even our bench hitters … we can all hit home runs, and it’s just really fun to be on a team like that,” Camuso said.
After opening the season with their best record since 2004, the Bruins struggled on defense and pitching during a four-game losing streak at the Cathedral City Classic.
“We’re just having the game get a little bit out of control a little bit too fast, but we just need to slow it down and stay at our own pace,” Camuso said.
“We’re still figuring out roles on the team and how we work well together and the chemistry on the team, but it’s good that we’re dealing with these things now rather than later.”
Despite being ranked in the top 20 in the nation, the Bruins find themselves as only the sixth-highest ranked team in the Pac-12 conference entering the Long Beach State Invitational. With their recent struggles, the Bruins will need to rectify the problem fairly quick if they are to competitively challenge for a Pac-12 title.
“Our team is working hard and we’re right there,” Fox said.
“We’re going to push through all of this adversity that we’ve been having, and we’re just going to keep going. We’re keeping our heads up, and it’s going to come for sure.”