This past weekend, senior pitcher Ally Carda had mixed results against ranked opponents, pitching a shutout in one game and struggling in two others. The team followed its leader, going 1-2 versus ranked teams in Cathedral City.
No. 12 UCLA (13-4) started its six-game stretch at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Thursday with a win against Indiana and a loss to No. 25 Texas.
On Friday, UCLA beat No. 18 Missouri 8-0 and on Saturday beat Ohio State 8-0 and lost to No. 9 Florida State 5-1. The Bruins wrapped up the six-game set with a 5-1 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday.
UCLA continued a common pattern from this season, holding onto an undefeated record against unranked opponents while seeing mixed results against ranked opponents. Carda blanked Missouri over six innings Friday but a day later allowed four runs in five innings against Florida State.
“I’ve been kind of up and down lately with my pitching,” Carda said. “I’m glad that’s happening now rather than at the end of the season.”
Even though the team has an 11-0 record against unranked teams and a 2-4 record against ranked opponents, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said she thinks the rank of the opposition is irrelevant at this point in the season.
“It’s early in the season right now – there is no team in the country right now that is going to be playing exactly how they’re playing now at the end,” Inouye-Perez said. “My biggest goal is to learn a little bit more about this year’s (UCLA) team.”
Appearances by junior pitcher Paige McDuffee against Texas and Nebraska served as bright spots in the series. After missing all of the previous weekend’s games because of nagging injuries, McDuffee pitched three innings this past weekend, allowing two runs and striking out two batters. McDuffee is still day-to-day, however.
“It felt good, just coming in to close a couple times,” McDuffee said. “One day I might wake up and not have pain. Hopefully that comes soon, but it’s not something I can predict.”
Inouye-Perez reiterated that her team is in a unity phase as it continues to utilize nonconference games to become a better-prepared team as conference play approaches.
The Bruins now have less than a month to prepare for Pac-12 play, which opens March 13 against Utah.