A near-capacity crowd announced at 1,184 sat in stunned silence at Easton Stadium on Sunday, still shaken after visiting Oregon State’s three-run blitz in the top of the fifth left UCLA softball in a precarious position.
All of the air had been sucked out of the stadium and the normally red-hot bats of the Bruins had accounted for just two hits and no runs through four innings.
The Bruins’ bats and the legion of fans in blue would not remain silent much longer.
Following a walk, sophomore shortstop Kellie Fox ignited the crowd, crushing a 1-2 pitch to left-center field for a two-run home run that brought the Bruins to within one run in the bottom of the fifth. No. 14 UCLA would go on to tie the game in the sixth before surrendering the lead and having a late rally fall short.
Oregon State picked up its first win at Easton Stadium since Apr. 22, 2006, breaking a string of 10 consecutive losses with the 7-5 victory. For the Bruins, however, their ability to fight back and respond in the face of adversity is something they’ve prided themselves on as a team all season.
“It felt good, it felt great,” Fox said of her home run. “It’s just our team magic; just throwing punches and we’re never going to let up.”
Fox, one of 50 players named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year watch list in preseason, has struggled at times this season. The shortstop has started all 32 games for the Bruins, but after hitting second for the first 11 games of the year, she has fluctuated between fifth, sixth and seventh in the batting order.
“I was just going up there with a clear mindset to drive the ball hard, and it was an up-and-in pitch and I got my hands on top of it, and drove it,” Fox said of her fourth home run of the season.
As a team, the Bruins lead the Pac-12 with a .376 batting average.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Fox said. “If you can’t get it done, you know the person either one or two behind you is going to get it done. Our team is hot right now, and our bats are hot.”
Workhorse
Sophomore pitcher Jessica Hall picked up two wins in the team’s opening Pac-12 series before surrendering the loss in the Sunday finale. In total, Hall pitched 15 of 19 innings over the weekend and improved her record to 12-4 on the year.
“We came out strong, fighting (and) punching back every chance we got, just competing each inning,” Hall said of the team.
Hall picked up the win in her five-inning start in Friday’s 8-4 win and picked up another win in three innings of relief work on Saturday. Hall pitched all seven innings Sunday striking out seven batters.
“She had a lot of guts, and she showed it there all the way to the end on Sunday,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez of Hall.
“I think she’s done a great job of getting this team to this point.”
“Ignite phase”
UCLA had won 12 straight games before the team’s loss on Sunday and is progressing, according to Inouye-Perez’s plan. The coach breaks the year into segments according to the letters in the word “bruins.”
“Right now, we’re in the ignite phase,” Inouye-Perez said. “The ignite phase is a time to be able to leave our mark and make sure to pull together and catch fire.”
“This team can hit,” she added.