The 2014 UCLA softball season can be summed up in two words: “one shot.”
The Bruins carried this mantra from the first day of their military-esque training in the fall all the way to the final game of the NCAA Super Regional series this past weekend, when a loss to Kentucky put an end to their winningest season since 2003.
Before the first game of the season, freshman outfielder Gabby Maurice precisely defined the “one shot” mentality.
“It just kind of symbolizes just the opportunity (you have), and the way that you can either take advantage of it, or you can just let it slip on by,” Maurice said.
As it turns out, the Bruins (52-8, 19-5 Pac-12) took advantage of nearly every “one shot” opportunity they had all season long. When they were down to their final at-bat and their last shot in a game, rarely did they fold. Of UCLA’s 52 victories, 20 were comeback wins, and six came when the Bruins were trailing in their last at-bat.
Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez called the 2014 season “one of the most successful in UCLA softball history.”
But before the season, it was unclear whether UCLA softball would have such a successful year.
Although the Bruins were ranked in the preseason top 25, they were coming off a year in which they finished 10-14 in Pac-12 play. On top of that, the team lost outfielder B.B. Bates, one of the most prolific hitters in school history, to graduation.
In order to succeed, the Bruins needed to capitalize on every little opportunity they had.
In February, UCLA entered the final inning tied with No. 13 Oklahoma, and stepped up with a walk-off single. The very next day, UCLA was trailing in the last inning against No. 16 Missouri, and rallied to produce another walk-off win.
Just over a week later, UCLA continued its clutch play, hitting a walk-off home run to defeat No. 4 Michigan. And almost two weeks after that, the Bruins overcame a seventh-inning deficit against No. 6 Arizona to win on a walk-off grand slam.
“(We grew from) the come-from-behind wins,” said junior catcher Stephany LaRosa.
Despite being involved in so many close contests, UCLA only lost six games through its first 58 of the season. When the Bruins did lose, it was almost always because they built large deficits in the early innings. But in tightly contested games that came down to the final inning and the final at-bat, UCLA found the upper hand almost every time.
In what turned out to be their last series of the season this past weekend, the Bruins both lived and died by their one shot. UCLA won the first game, after hitting a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning on a two-strike count with two outs.
But in the final two games of the NCAA Super Regional, the “one shot” moments never came. In the deciding game three, UCLA loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third, yet failed to score.
The Bruins wouldn’t score for the rest of the game after that, while the Kentucky Wildcats exploded for six runs in a 7-1 victory.
After a season’s worth of clutch plays and resilient comebacks, the 2014 UCLA softball season will ultimately be remembered for how the Bruins missed out on their one shot to reach the Women’s College World Series.