When the UCLA softball team travels to Washington to play a
two-game set with the Huskies this weekend, it will be looking to
capitalize on a surge of momentum.
The Bruins (33-3, 5-1 Pac-10), who took over the nation’s
No. 1 ranking after sweeping the Arizona schools last weekend, take
on the No. 14 Huskies (28-12, 2-4) today at 3 p.m. and on Saturday
at 2 p.m.
“We need to take that momentum and run with it,”
senior third baseman Andrea Duran said. “But we also need to
refocus because Washington is a whole different team and in the
Pac-10, anyone could win on any given day.”
In UCLA’s victories over Arizona State and Arizona, the
Bruin bats were alive and well. UCLA scored 17 runs in its three
games against two of the strongest pitching staffs in the
Pac-10.
But Washington presents a whole new set of challenges for the
UCLA squad.
While the Huskies have struggled to get off to a good start in
Pac-10 play, they have shown the ability to be an explosive
offensive team. Washington has put the mercy rule in effect against
eight opponents this year, most recently in a game two weeks ago
against then-No. 5 Stanford.
The Huskies have also gotten solid pitching all year long out of
freshman Danielle Lawrie and sophomore Caitlin Noble. Lawrie is
16-8 with a 1.48 ERA while Noble is 12-4 with a 1.79 ERA.
“They’ve got two throwers that are talented and
capable of shutting people down,” UCLA coach Sue Enquist
said.
Fortunately for the Bruins, the offense that will be facing
those pitchers is heating up at the right time. Senior catcher
Emily Zaplatosch, whose power production had been down this year,
hit two home runs last weekend. Caitlin Benyi and Krista Colburn
both hit home runs as well.
Duran is fresh off winning two National Player of the Week
awards along with the Pac-10 Player of the Week for her torrid
.545, three home run performance against ASU and Arizona last week.
Duran is among the top three players on the team in average, home
runs and RBI’s from the lead-off spot.
“Andrea Duran ““ great leader, great performer, great
teammate and an incredible representation of the UCLA
student-athlete,” Enquist said. “In my opinion,
she’s the best third baseman in the country.”
If last year is any indication, the Bruins certainly cannot
afford to bask in the glory of their recent successes. Each of the
three games in which UCLA and Washington played in last season were
decided by one run, with Washington winning two of the games.
“We’ve beaten some good teams and I think we need to
keep sight of that,” junior outfielder Whitney Holum said.
“But (Washington) is a good team too and we can’t
overlook them.”
“Momentum is a very fragile thing,” Enquist said.
“You can lose it extremely quickly. The game doesn’t
know that we’re on a roll.”