For a large part of the past 30 years, the UCLA Bruins have been the New York Yankees of NCAA Softball. The Bruins have won a record 11 championships and appeared in 25 Women’s College World Series, the most of any school.
However, recent history has not been kind to UCLA. The Bruins are currently experiencing their longest championship drought in the program’s history, having not made it to the championship of the Women’s College World Series since they last won it in 2010.
It’s not that they haven’t been successful. Last spring, the Bruins entered the Women’s College World Series carried by the momentum of going undefeated in four games in the Los Angeles Super Regional. Despite the momentum, they were quickly bounced in the second round by Michigan, and then by Auburn.
“They were pissed that we didn’t get it done in the postseason last year,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez.
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UCLA lost three starters from last year’s squad in infielder Gracie Goulder, catcher Stephany LaRosa and pitcher Ally Carda. LaRosa’s departure leaves a gaping hole in the lineup since she was third in the Pac-12 with 20 home runs last season.
Carda’s loss is perhaps the greatest, though. She was the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a three-time NFCA First Team All-American, striking out 281 batters in 240 innings, and posting an ERA of 2.63 last season.
A promising group of incoming freshmen will be called on to fill a couple of these gaps. Freshmen Brianna Tautalafua and Taylor Pack are expected to split time at first base, while Tautalafua is also expected to share innings behind the plate with Paige Halstead, another freshman.
Senior Allexis Bennett, who led the Pac-12 with a .492 batting average, will occupy her familiar space in center field, and power-hitting junior Delaney Spaulding will anchor the infield at shortstop.
Meanwhile, sophomore right-handed pitchers Selina Ta’amilo and Johanna Grauer will split innings evenly as the team’s two starting pitchers to begin the year. However, redshirt junior Paige McDuffee and freshman Rachel Garcia, the 2014-2015 high school Gatorade Player of the Year, are slated to return from injury at some point and supply reinforcements. However, there are no timelines for their returns.
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With this medley of new and old faces, the Bruins will try to right the ship and return to their championship pedigree in 2016.
UCLA’s road to redemption begins in College Station, Texas, where the Bruins, ranked No. 7 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches polls, are set to take on Colorado State, Texas A&M and Wichita State in a five-game slate.
“We’re just anxious to get out to Texas and start already,” Spaulding said.
While UCLA didn’t face Colorado State last year, they are familiar with Texas A&M from two meetings last season. In their first matchup, UCLA invoked the mercy rule after going up 13-0 after five innings. However, the second contest didn’t fare as well for the Bruins as they dropped 6-4 to Texas A&M.
They also faced Wichita State once last year, winning 11-0 after five innings.
This trip will give the Bruins a chance to really examine the current state of their roster. They will get to see how well they are able to cope with the loss of Carda and how their young core responds to being thrown into the fire early in the season.
Whatever the outcome of this weekend, UCLA is anxious for a shot to make it back to the Women’s College World Series and rewrite the script.
“As a team we have a goal,” Bennett said. “As a team we are on a mission.”
The Bruins may have their hopes set on late springtime glory, but for now they are just looking to come away from the Lone Star State with a couple of wins.