At the end of baseball postgame interviews, hitters and pitchers often thank one another for their separate contributions to the game on offense and defense. When it comes to UCLA softball, however, the two can come together, just as they did for senior Ally Carda during UCLA’s weekend sweep of Arizona.
Carda pitched 12 innings this weekend, giving up only three runs and picking up the win in each contest, improving her record to 25-4. She also went two for four at the plate, collecting four RBI, eight walks and her seventh homer of the season in the process.
“I just tried to mix speeds a lot, throw some changeups, some off-speed stuff, as well as my hard stuff,” Carda said. “I just tried to keep it really simple and keep my foot down and take some good hacks at good pitches.”
In the top of the fourth inning Sunday, Carda let in five runs, three of which were charged to freshman pitcher Johanna Grauer. In the bottom of the inning, Carda’s home run knocked in three of the eight runs that the Bruins put up in the fourth, the inning that ultimately put the mercy rule into effect. Carda went on to pitch the next inning, closing out the shortened game.
Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said she took pride in her star pitcher’s ability to not only pitch, but take a swing at the opponent’s pitchers as well.
With her hitting, Carda not only helped herself, but also the whole team. Because of the mercy rule in NCAA softball, she helped out the entire pitching staff. No. 7 UCLA (44-8, 18-3 Pac-12) invoked the mercy rule against No. 16 Arizona (37-15, 12-9) twice this weekend. Without such a big offensive showing, the Bruins would have been on the hook for 21 innings, instead of the 17 they ended up throwing.
“We wanted to make a statement,” said sophomore shortstop Delaney Spaulding. “To mercy them a second time in the weekend was just huge for us, especially (with it) being a rivalry game.”
In Carda’s final season as a Bruin, she has carried the pitching staff, just as she did last year. She has thrown 174 innings – more than the rest of the UCLA pitchers combined. This weekend, she did even more for her staff. By producing those runs, she took the burden of four additional innings away from freshman pitchers Grauer and Selina Ta’amilo.
Invoking the mercy rule keeps pitchers rested and healthy down the stretch. The Bruins will finish their regular season with three games on the road against the No. 25 Arizona State Sun Devils Thursday, before the start of the NCAA Tournament.
“We’ve had several games where we’ve run-rolled teams,” Inouye-Perez said. “We haven’t even played regulation seven. They’re just clearly on a mission to be able to play their game and I’m super proud of them for that.”