UCLA softball has waited more than eight months for the opportunity that will finally present itself on Thursday night.
The Bruins will finally get a chance to embark on a new season – and a new championship run – after being upset by the Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA Super Regionals last May.
“We’ve been waiting, we’ve been training, and it’s paying off,” said junior outfielder Allexis Bennett. “And now it’s ‘go’ time.”
UCLA’s opponent this time will be Idaho State, who might share a similar hunger to get back on the field after last season. The Bengals finished with a school-record 35 wins and a Big Sky regular season championship last year, only to see their NCAA tournament hopes crumble in the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game.
Both teams have key seniors returning to the field for 2015, with one last shot at attaining the glory of a national title.
For the No. 7 Bruins, their two leading seniors are also reigning All-Americans: pitcher Ally Carda and catcher Stephany LaRosa.
LaRosa has been a jack-of-all-trades player for coach Kelly Inouye-Perez, playing a different position in each of her first three years on the team. This year provides the first opportunity LaRosa gets to play the same position she played the previous season.
“This year coach has me back behind the plate again,” LaRosa said. “So I’m definitely looking forward to that.”
The Bengals have a standout senior behind the plate this year as well, as senior catcher Vicky Galasso shares LaRosa’s feat of leading her team in slugging percentage in 2014. Also, senior infielder Hailey Breakwell parallels Carda in that both players were named player of the year in their respective conferences last season.
The relationship between the two schools extends even further than the players on the field. Idaho State assistant coach Jessica Moore also shares Pac-12 ties, as she was a starting pitcher for Oregon from 2010-2013 – and the winner of Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year award in 2013. And how can UCLA fans forget that Idaho State upset then-No. 2 ranked UCLA in the 1977 NCAA men’s basketball tournament?
Beyond the teams’ connections on both their playing rosters and coaching staffs, both UCLA and Idaho State are picked to finish at the upper echelon of their respective conferences in 2015. The Bruins were one vote away from tying Oregon for the top spot in the Pac-12’s preseason coaches poll, while the Bengals were picked first in the Big Sky’s preseason coaches poll.
Inouye-Perez said she is ready to let her team’s play speak for itself.
“I always look forward to the game one, weekend one of the season,” Inouye-Perez said. “Because if you can bottle this (feeling) up and save it through season, it is worth its weight in gold.”