All the adversity that the UCLA softball team has faced so far
this season won’t be a factor when the Bruins take the field
at Easton Stadium today. Neither will their 16 regular season
losses, their prolonged midseason hitting slump, or their erratic
starting pitching. That’s because the postseason begins today
for the two-time defending national champion Bruins, who host
Loyola Marymount today in the first game of their NCAA Regional.
And that means UCLA’s slate will be wiped clean. “I
don’t like to make the postseason any bigger than it
is,” UCLA third baseman Andrea Duran said. “But this is
a good opportunity to erase the struggles we had and get off to a
fresh start.” It hasn’t been a smooth season for the
Bruins (30-16, 11-10 Pac-10), who were never in the hunt for the
conference championship and fell as low as No. 14 in the national
rankings before winning five of their last six games. But if UCLA
wins a third consecutive championship, the road the team took to
the postseason would become irrelevant. “The adage is that
this is a new season,” Enquist said. “But you have to
respect whoever’s on the field and not get caught up in the
opponent’s record or what conference they came from.”
The Bruins enter this weekend’s NCAA Regional as the No. 1
seed in their region and the No. 7 seed nationally. The regional
will be played in a double-elimination format, with games today,
Saturday and Sunday. The other two teams that will be at Easton
Stadium this weekend are UNLV and Cal State Fullerton. The winner
of the regional will advance to the super regionals: a
best-of-three series to be played next weekend. Two weeks removed
from a prolonged midseason slump, UCLA enters the postseason
playing some of its best softball of the season. Second baseman
Caitlin Benyi and shortstop Jodie Legaspi have hit their stride,
helping UCLA’s offense score at least five runs in seven of
its last nine games. And freshman pitcher Anjelica Selden, who
struggled in April after a hot start to the season, has been
dominant of late, allowing just one run in her last 17 innings.
Fourth-seeded LMU (34-18) will be making its first-ever appearance
in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA did not face either LMU or
second-seeded UNLV (43-17) this season, but did play third-seeded
Cal State Fullerton (28-19) three times, winning two of the three
meetings. “It’s easier to prepare against teams
you’ve faced and you know their tendencies,” Enquist
said. “But good teams adjust on the fly.”
AWARDS GALORE: The Pac-10 announced its
season-ending awards, and several Bruins were honored. Selden was
named Newcomer of the Year. Selden, Benyi and third baseman Andrea
Duran were named first team All-Conference. UCLA catcher Emily
Zaplatosch was named to the second team and Legaspi received an
honorable mention. The conference’s Co-Players of the Year
were Washington’s Kristen Rivera and Arizona’s Caitlin
Lowe. The Pac-10 Coach of the Year was Oregon State’s Kirk
Walker. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association also released
its All-Pacific Region team. Benyi was named to the first team and
Selden was named to the second team. The All-American teams will be
announced at the Women’s College World Series.