The gauntlet begins Thursday.
Six wins in six days – all against teams ranked in the top eight in the country. That’s what’s needed to emerge from the Women’s College World Series with a national championship trophy.
For a team that’s relied on one pitcher for all but one inning so far this postseason, that may be asking a lot.
Senior pitcher Ally Carda holds that responsibility for UCLA softball, which begins its Women’s College World Series run with a first-round game against No. 2 seed Oregon (51-6) on Thursday night.
Carda has held up so far, pitching 31 of UCLA’s 32 innings in this NCAA Tournament and posting a 5-0 record and 2.21 ERA. But she has shown some signs of wearing down, something she’s been susceptible to throughout this season.
In the second game of the NCAA Super Regional this past Sunday against No. 10 seed Missouri, Carda allowed only two runs in the first five innings, but then gave up three in the sixth inning alone. She walked in a run with the bases loaded before striking out the next Mizzou batter to escape the sixth inning with a 10-6 UCLA lead intact. Carda was removed from the game after that three-run sixth inning.
“Missouri, as you can see, they’re a team that doesn’t quit,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez after the NCAA Super Regional on Sunday. “They don’t quit fighting.”
The team No. 7 seed UCLA (50-10) faces first in the Women’s College World Series is even tougher to get out. Oregon is the No. 2 team in the nation in batting average and one of the few teams that has troubled Carda over the years. Entering Thursday’s game, Carda has a 5.03 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched against Oregon during her career.
“I’ve been working with (assistant coach Lisa) Fernandez a lot on just being mentally tough, and I think the biggest thing is if they’re fighting, we can’t stop fighting,” Carda said. “So just as a pitcher staying in it every pitch, and you can’t take pitches off.”
One advantage Carda has is the Bruin offense, which is one of the best in the country. While the Ducks sit at No. 2 in batting average, the Bruins hold the top spot in that category and also average more runs. UCLA also has junior outfielder Allexis Bennett, who holds the second-best batting average in the country.
“For us, it’s going all in for your at bat, that one pitch, and live in the moment,” Bennett said. “Be in the moment, be in the pitch, and take advantage – whether it’s a ball or a strike.”
That formula is one of the few that’s been able to consistently solve Oregon standout pitcher Cheridan Hawkins over the past three years.
What Carda is to the Bruins, Hawkins is to the Ducks. The left-hander is the two-time reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and has accounted for more than half of Oregon’s wins this year.
But as strong as Hawkins has been, she has consistently struggled against UCLA. In her three-year career, Hawkins holds a 6.81 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched against the Bruins, and a 7.78 ERA in the three games she pitched against UCLA this year.
When Carda and Hawkins face off one more time – and perhaps one final time – Thursday night in Oklahoma City, the winner may come down to which pitcher lasts the longest.