UCLA softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez didn’t sugarcoat the difficulties of playing a midweek game.
“I think midweeks are always a challenge,” Inouye-Perez said. “It’s actually not always a great thing. Not something that we like. It throws some things off, but it takes mental toughness to be able to come out and I’m proud of how they played against Cal State Fullerton.”
The Bruins pulled off a victory in that game against the Titans, and this week, No. 12 UCLA (33-12, 8-7 Pac-12) will travel to the valley to play its last midweek game of the season against unranked Cal State Northridge (27-16, 7-5 Big West).
Senior shortstop Delaney Spaulding said she thought that last week’s game helped UCLA get back on its feet after dropping two out of three to Oregon State the previous weekend.
“Especially it being a midweek game, that kind got us warmed up for this Cal series, and it worked out very well,” Spaulding said.
After the Bruins earned the victory against Fullerton, they went on to earn their first series sweep of the season against the Golden Bears, boosting UCLA to fifth place in the Pac-12 standings.
Senior left fielder Gabrielle Maurice said that midweek games are a good test of the team’s mental toughness.
“Midweek games are always good,” Maurice said. “(They) really (test) how locked on you are. They can either bite you from behind, or they can do you good. So I think the midweek game definitely helped us out and showed a good test to our focus.”
In the Cal series this past weekend, the Bruins’ defense held the Bears to an average of 1.3 runs per game.
CSUN comes into Wednesday’s game having won two games in its last three-game series against Cal Poly. The Matadors’ pitchers gave up a total of three earned runs in the series, although their offense only scored seven runs combined.
Spaulding, however, said the team was focused on their own mindset heading into Wednesday’s game.
“We’re going to get right back at it, in the weight room and on the field, and we’re going to continue the process all the way through Northridge to Stanford, and we’re going to take it up to Palo Alto this weekend,” Spaulding said.