It’s official: UCLA softball is king of hill
By Rick Pal
UCLA softball is officially the best in the country.
After sweeping both national champion Arizona Wildcats on
Saturday and seventh-ranked Sacramento State the following day, the
NSCA/USA Today top-ranking found it’s way into Westwood on
Wednesday.
The Wildcats previously occupied the top spot, until they
entered Easton Stadium last weekend and lost to the Bruins twice,
8-5 and 4-2. In both victories, UCLA rallied from early deficits to
overtake Arizona.
The Bruins bolstered their claim to the top ranking on Sunday
with sound defeats of Sacramento State, in which the Bruins shut
out the Hornets in both games, 2-0 and 3-0.
Despite the victories over two top-10 teams in one week, UCLA
continues to play up the underdog mentality.
"We don’t worry about the No. 1 ranking too much," co-head coach
Sue Enquist said. "We are focusing on ourselves and our own level
of play.
"There is still room for improvement. We still aren’t perfect on
the bunts, there are situations where we want to set up our defense
better so we don’t have so many bloop singles, and there are people
who feel like their hitting isn’t where they want it to be."
* * *
Arriving in Westwood from Australia only three weeks ago,
23-year-old junior transfer Tanya Harding may need a larger trophy
case if she continues to receive accolades at her current pace.
Last week’s Pac-10 Player of the Week, Harding was named this
week’s Louisville Slugger Division I Player of the Week as well as
Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week for her roles in the Arizona and
Sacramento State series.
She pitched a complete game against the daunting Wildcat lineup,
then notched 11 strikeouts in a complete game against Sac State.
Even though she boasts a 5-0 record and a sparkling 0.82 ERA, she
remains unsatisfied.
"I’m not too happy with my pitching at the moment, but I’d like
to work on it the next couple of weeks and hopefully it will come
along," Harding said. "The international distance from pitcher to
batter is 43 feet, and in college it is 40, so I will have to make
an adjustment."
Whatever the case, Harding cannot complain about her performance
at the plate. She went 6-for-13 over the weekend, driving in five
runs, including a clutch three-run homer against Arizona that put
the Bruins ahead for good. In 10 games this year, Harding is
batting a formidable .563.
"The nice thing about having someone like Tanya is that
everybody else can have a tendency to open up their games, where
they can be more aggressive at the plate because you know you have
someone who is a real talent for you," Enquist said.