By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Contributor
One word describes the past weekend in Las Vegas for the Bruins:
jackpot!
No. 1 UCLA (15-0) won all five games in the UNLV Classic, a bit
of news as sweet to them as the sound of clanging coins to a
gambler.
The Bruins’ wins weren’t squeakers, either.
Combining the five games, UCLA scored 60 runs while limiting their
opponents to five. That widened the gap over the season thus far to
UCLA 149, Opponents 10.
On Sunday, Florida International (12-3) was the last of the five
teams to endure the UCLA offensive attack. The Bruins clawed the
Golden Panthers 10-0, with nine of their runs coming in the second
inning. Sophomore Tairia Mims, who was named Pac-10 player of the
week, hit her fifth home run of the weekend.
Sophomore Natasha Watley and freshman Claire Sua also
contributed a round-tripper each. In the circle, freshman Keira
Goerl got her fourth win of the season, going three innings, while
senior Courtney Dale closed out the final two stanzas of the
mercy-shortened game.
Saturday the Bruins started out with a 9-2 win over Wisconsin
(5-5). Mims was the offensive star of the game, going 3 for 4 and
contributing two home runs. As if her bat wasn’t enough to
propel the Bruins to victory, Goerl turned in a sterling pitching
performance, giving up just one hit over seven innings.
In Saturday’s nightcap, the Bruins handed No. 12 Nebraska
(5-4) a 6-2 defeat. Mims added another chapter to her stellar
weekend, with four of the team’s five RBIs. Junior pitcher
Amanda Freed went all seven innings, allowing only three hits, but
giving up her first and only earned runs of the season. The win was
her seventh of the year, a team high.
Friday’s opener saw the Bruin bats explode for a 15-1
victory over Kansas (6-5). Watley went 4 for 5, while Sua went 3
for 3 with three RBIs. Mims contributed three RBIs of her own in
the rout. In the circle, Freed went all five innings, surrendering
just two hits. The run was not earned because Kansas junior Shelly
Musser reached on an error by UCLA senior outfielder Lupe
Brambila.
However, the exhibition of offense was heightened in the
nightcap. UCLA defeated Portland State (2-4) 20-0 in the most
lopsided game for UCLA since a 21-0 trouncing of Stanford in 1993.
Mims contributed five RBIs, as did junior catcher Stacey Nuveman,
with both hitting a home run. Senior Stephanie Swenson got the win,
giving up just one hit. The victory was her fourth of the
season.
UCLA Head Coach Sue Enquist said that Mims’ performance
this weekend, in which she had 16 RBIs and went 10 for 16 at the
plate, was nothing unexpected.
“Tairia Mims is an outstanding athlete who has,
mechanically, a really beautiful swing, so when teams make mistakes
on her, she’s the type of player who will capitalize
immediately,” Enquist said. “I’m not surprised at
all with her success.”
The casual softball fan might think that the Bruins are at the
top of their game, but Enquist warns that there are some areas in
which the Bruins are a bit rusty.
“There are times when we don’t run the bases very
smartly and there are times when we are not dialed in on defense.
We’re trying to establish a level of consistency where we
don’t have those lapses,” she said.
As some folks this weekend took home some extra cash from their
holiday weekend in Las Vegas, the Bruins lined their pockets with
five more wins, keeping their perfect record intact.
UCLA looks to double its feat next weekend, when the Bruins play
five more games at the Texas Invitational.