Friday, 4/25/97 Bruins’ conference title hopes rest on outcome
of Oregon road trip UCLA must sweep Beavers to win Pacific10,
ensure higher College World Series seed
UCLA’s injury list grows The UCLA softball team may have
recuperated from the beating they suffered on the scoreboard
against No. 2 Arizona last week, but the Bruins will hit the Oregon
Trail tomorrow literally bruised and battered from the matchup with
the Wildcats. Although Christie Ambrosi and Julie Adams both
returned to action against the Arizona schools, Adams’ return was
short-lived. The sophomore third baseman will miss at least two
weeks after re-aggravating a left shoulder injury that has kept her
from playing at full strength since Feb. 15. In addition Adams’
injury, UCLA also lost second baseman Laurie Fritz, who dislocated
her right shoulder against Arizona. Fritz is the fourth starting
infielder to miss a game due to illness or injury and is expected
to be sidelined for two weeks as well. Senior center fielder Nicole
Ochoa pulled a hamstring against Arizona, but she is expected to
play against Oregon State on Friday. Bruins fall behind in the
polls The two losses against Arizona were not well received by the
national polls. While the Wildcats are still ranked second behind
No. 1 Fresno State, the Bruins (34-10, 14-6 Pac-10) fell to the No.
4 spot in the USA Today rankings. South Carolina – which UCLA
defeated 1-0 at the UNLV Invitational in February – took over the
No. 3 spot from UCLA. The Pac-10 continues to have more teams
ranked in the top 25 than any other single conference. In addition
to Arizona and UCLA, the conference features No. 6 Washington, No.
11 Arizona State and No. 22 California. Bruins burn paths to record
book Pitcher B’Ann Burns should get a chance to place her name atop
yet another record this weekend in Oregon. The senior needs to
pitch just six more innings to break Debbie Doom’s career record of
725 2/3 innings. With 89 victories, Burns is also on pace to break
Lisa Fernandez’s record of 93 wins, set from 1990-93. Senior Alleah
Poulson’s performance in the nightcap against Arizona was a bright
spot for the Bruins. The UCLA career RBI leader was 3 for 4 and
blasted her first career grand slam in the fifth inning. In
addition to the RBI record, Poulson is approaching the Bruin record
for doubles. The first baseman has 11 this season and 39 for her
career. She is just four shy of the single-season record and ranks
third with her career mark. Freshman Stacey Nuveman has already
tied the UCLA single-season home run record with 14, and with eight
games remaining in the regular season, she needs just six more to
equal the career mark set by Jennifer Brundage. Earlier in the year
she twice hit two home runs in a single game – both times against
Oregon, which the Bruins will take on Saturday. Notebook compiled
by Melissa Anderson, Daily Bruin Contributor. Softball