If the Bruins can repeat their performance from last weekend, they will be walking away from the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with their heads held high, boosted by a 15-2 record and will be claiming their stake as one of the nation’s top teams.
Building off a perfect 5-0 record in the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic last weekend, the Bruins head into this weekend’s Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic hoping to improve on its 1-2 record against ranked competition. This tournament will test the growth of the No. 12 UCLA softball as they will be going against No. 9 Florida State (7-3), No. 18 Missouri (4-1) and No. 25 Texas (7-3).
Fresh off two standout performances, senior pitcher Ally Carda’s no-hitter and sophomore left fielder Gabrielle Maurice winning the Pac-12 Player of the Week, the Bruins will work toward keeping their momentum rolling as they engage in a six-game weekend slate which includes a match-up with the Longhorn’s offensive powerhouse.
“I have a lot of respect for Texas and what they can do and they have done,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “But for us, it is just working on the staff. I have four different types of pitchers. So we look to go in and have all four of them step in to stop anyone we may face.”
If the Bruins want to replicate last weekend’s perfect record at the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic, getting repeat performances from Carda and Maurice would go a long way towards ensuring that goal is realized.
Carda no-hit the Boise State Broncos and barely allowed them to make any contact against her. She managed to strike out 11, and the only time a Bronco crossed second base was when she was on her way back to the dugout from the outfield.
Carda’s no-hitter was the second of her career and it put the exclamation point on a weekend in which the Bruins outscored their unranked opponents 54-11. Playing down to the level of their competition has not been a problem for the Bruins, as they are 8-0 against unranked opponents with a 62 run differential overall. In the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, they will play three more unranked teams in the Indiana Hoosiers, Ohio State Buckeyes and Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Bruins pitching staff will have the security of knowing that its offense can hang even in a slugfest as they are ranked ninth best in the country. UCLA has been one of the top hitting teams in the country, thanks in large part to Maurice leading the charge.
Over the course of the past week, Maurice reached base 17 times in 21 at-bats, while also driving in 10 runs and scoring seven more herself. These video game-like numbers that she put up at the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic resulted in her winning Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week, making her the first Bruin to win that honor this year.
But starting Thursday, UCLA’s offense has to prove themselves as they return to playing ranked teams, a stark contrast to the competition it faced last week. The Bruins will be looking to continue moving forward rather than reverting back to the results from the beginning of the year.
“We had a rough start,” said junior first baseman and catcher Brittany Moeai. “I just feel like it was kind of a wake-up call to just play our game and not play as if we know who the opponent is.”
With three ranked foes on the slate and two other opponents receiving top-25 votes, it appears as if the wake-up call came at the perfect time for the Bruins as they prepare for what seems like their most difficult stretch of games to date.
Practice is the key for these Bruins, and senior first baseman and catcher Stephany LaRosa believes that the Bruins are on the right path to handling this difficult stretch and overcoming the early season obstacles that they have faced.
“You practice how you play, and you come out every day strong and hopefully that translates into the game,” LaRosa said. “We are just getting better every single day.”
The Bruins will need their stellar results from practice to translate onto the field as they will be looking for someone to step up and lead the charge against these tough opponents.
The first ranked opponent of the weekend is the Longhorns on Thursday night in a Texas-sized match-up. The duel to keep an eye on is the Bruins’ Ally Carda facing off against a fellow All-American from the Longhorns: outfielder Lindsey Stephens. Being able to neutralize Stephens would go a long way in helping slow down the potent Texas offense.
“Good pitching can stop good hitting at any time,” said coach Inouye-Perez. “(The) key to throwing off good hitters, is throwing off their timing.”