Over the past two weekends, No. 10 UCLA softball (16-5) faced two of the top teams in the country. The Bruins lost both games, but in different ways.
A week and a half ago, UCLA faced off against No. 1 Florida State (17-1-1) in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Bruins engaged in a close heavyweight bout, but in the end fell 2-1. Last weekend, they faced off against No. 3 Florida (20-1), and struggled early with pitching command, eventually falling 9-4.
“The Florida State game, they punched, they scored, we punched back, they got the last punch,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez.
After surrendering one run in the top of the second, redshirt freshman pitcher Rachel Garcia did not allow another run until the fifth inning.
Down 2-0, the Bruins managed to rally for one run in the bottom of the fifth, but no more.
“Yeah, the Florida State game was close, but it’s still a loss, so we learn from those mistakes as well,” said junior pitcher Selina Ta’amilo. “Obviously we didn’t execute on certain things.”
The Florida contest was a much higher-scoring affair, as the Gators jumped out to an 8-1 lead after two four-run rallies in the first and second innings. UCLA was able to get one run in the first and two in the third, but only got one more hit.
“I went back to look at video, they hit our misses,” said Inouye-Perez.
Both Inouye-Perez and Ta’amilo found that the pitchers’ location issues were a major factor in Florida’s rallies.
However, they both expressed optimism in knowing that they learned what they need to work on.
“The good news is, they were bad pitches, and with that, we have something that we could work on,” Inouye-Perez said. “At the end of the day, we walk away knowing they beat us on that day, but we don’t believe that they’re necessarily a better team overall.”
Ta’amilo had a similarly concise explanation for what went wrong in the contest.
“We just need to learn what didn’t work, and what pitches we need to work on for not missing in the near future,” she said. “Honestly, it’s more of a wake-up call that we’re not going to be perfect all the way throughout the season, so we just learn from our mistakes and move on.”