The UCLA softball team was anything but consistent this weekend.
After a successful road trip last week in which the Bruins went 4-1, they experienced a series of peaks and valleys this weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California, finishing with a 3-2 record over the course of three days.
“We’re not playing our best ball right now,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “It’s not a secret.”
UCLA got off to a strong start to the tournament on Friday. Sophomore Selina Ta’amilo showed well at the Aggie Classic the weekend prior, and she picked up where she left off against No. 15 Central Florida, tossing a complete game, three-hit shutout en route to a 2-0 victory.
“My mentality is just one pitch at a time,” Ta’amilo said. “I think that where I’ve gotten better this year is mentally.”
Although the Bruins’ offense was stagnant for much of the game against standout senior Shelby Turnier, they still mustered two runs in the third inning, giving Ta’amilo all she needed.
UCLA wouldn’t take an early lead Saturday, though. In the first game against Notre Dame, UCLA would get off to a rocky start, as sophomore pitcher Johanna Grauer, coming off a rough performance at the Aggie Classic last week, continued to struggle.
She was pulled from the game after allowing seven runs over 4 1/3 innings as UCLA fell to the Fighting Irish 8-6.
Four of the runs were unearned though, as UCLA’s defense made four errors, contributing to Grauer’s early exit.
“We put ourselves in a position to hand over a ‘W’,” Inouye-Perez said. “We beat ourselves against Notre Dame.”
The Bruins would respond with a resounding 9-1 victory over Cal Poly, invoking the mercy rule after only five innings. Ta’amilo turned in yet another solid outing, allowing only one run over four innings. UCLA’s offense was the story though, exploding for nine runs behind sophomore Kylee Perez, who hit her first home run of the season and had four RBIs.
“I was just seeing (the ball) really well this weekend,” Perez said.
However, UCLA couldn’t manage to string together consecutive wins and would open Sunday with a 10-5 loss to No. 4 LSU. The Bruins did manage to produce fairly well offensively against sophomore stud Carley Hoover, tagging her for five runs on 12 hits; however, they had plenty of opportunities to do more damage as they left nine runners on base.
Ta’amilo also picked up her first loss of the season after LSU batted around on her in the second inning and chased her from the mound after only 2 2/3 innings.
“I just didn’t didn’t have my best stuff,” Ta’amilo said. “LSU is a really good team and they took advantage of it.”
UCLA would round out the trip though with a 9-1 victory over Pacific. Ta’amilo rebounded nicely from the previous game, tossing five innings and allowing one run. Perez also continued her hot hitting, going 3-4, and senior Allexis Bennett hit the ball well, adding four hits of her own.
The Bruins, facing their top competition of the year so far, received mixed results.
“If you want to be one of the best teams in the country you have to beat teams like LSU, like Notre Dame,” Inouye-Perez said. “We’re not there yet.”
The Bruins will try to improve their defense, along with their ability to drive in runners. But with a short practice week, the Bruins won’t have very much time to amend these issues. They are set to face another tough slate of ranked teams next weekend in No. 1 Florida, No. 10 Georgia and No. 14 Oklahoma.