Friday, February 14, 1997
SOFTBALL:
Returning California and Stanford players pose challengeBy
Melissa Anderson
Daily Bruin Staff
Frustration isn’t what the UCLA softball team expected to feel
while preparing to open Pacific 10 play this weekend in the Bay
Area. But after dropping three of its last four nonconference
games, there can be no other way to describe the Bruins’ 5-3
start.
Kicking off a 15-game road trip that will last until March 22,
the Bruins will face California on Saturday at Strawberry Field in
the first conference matchup of the year, then head across the bay
to Palo Alto on Sunday for a meeting with Stanford.
Picked to finish fourth in the Pac-10 in a preseason coaches
poll, the Golden Bears return all nine starters from the last
year’s team, against whom the Bruins won 3 of 4 meetings, including
a sweep on the Bears’ home field in the final meeting of the
season.
Still, with its entire lineup returning, Cal should provide a
challenge for the struggling Bruins, who are batting a meager .296
after eight games, nearly 60 points lower than last season’s
average.
Stanford has been somewhat of a conference punching bag
throughout the last few years, finishing sixth out of seven last
year and losing all four games against UCLA. Stanford was able to
take the Bruins into extra innings once last season but eventually
succumbed in 10 innings, 4-2.
This year, however, the Cardinal is much improved with 13
starters returning and new head coach John Ritman at the helm. And
with a Bruin squad coming off its worst conference finish in the
history of the program (UCLA finished third in 1996 behind
Washington and Arizona), the Bruins cannot take anyone lightly.
Consistency on the mound will be key for UCLA, which struggled
in the circle last week against Fresno State and Long Beach State.
Freshman Christa Williams has carried most of the load to date,
pitching 25 innings and striking out 25. But Williams has walked 11
and given up 18 hits en route to compiling a 2-2 record. A sweep
through the Bay Area will require Williams as well as Courtney Dale
and B’Ann Burns to pick up their level of play on the mound.