For the first half of the season, she was one of the most
dominant pitchers in the country. But once the grueling Pac-10
schedule started, things changed for UCLA softball pitcher Anjelica
Selden.
She was no longer unhittable. She was no longer invincible. She
was no longer the same pitcher who threw no-hitters on consecutive
days.
She was suddenly very beatable.
Selden compiled an astounding ERA of 0.18 during the
non-conference schedule, compiling a record of 11-3 ““ and in
the three losses, the freshman didn’t allow a single earned
run.
Since Pac-10 play started, however, Selden has seen her numbers
significantly change.
In conference play, Selden’s ERA currently sits at 2.50,
and the pitcher has amassed a record of 5-7.
Still considered one of the top pitchers in the conference,
Selden has not yet recovered from her tough-luck start in the
Pac-10 schedule. While she pitched well in her first three starts,
only allowing two runs in each appearance, the Bruins’
offense did not provide any run support, as UCLA dropped a 2-1
decision in all three games.
But as the Pac-10 schedule has progressed, Selden’s starts
have gotten worse, capped off by her latest two games against
Stanford this past weekend, in which she allowed seven runs on
Saturday and five on Sunday.
“I just have to go after the hitters, and not think too
much,” Selden said. “I’m just growing up on the
field and learning a lot.”
Only in her first season, Selden was thrust into the softball
spotlight as the ace pitcher for the defending back-to-back
national champions. She has put up amazing strikeout numbers,
registering 315 punchouts ““ currently the fifth-highest
single-season total in UCLA history ““ with six regular-season
games and the postseason left to play.
The UCLA record of 359 strikeouts, set in 1994 by DeeDee Weiman,
is well within reach for Selden, especially if the No. 10 Bruins
(25-15, 6-9 Pac-10) make any kind of run in the postseason.
But accompanying those eye-popping strikeout totals is another
unexpected figure ““ 10 losses, the most by any Bruin pitcher
since 1998.
“I’ve been pitching wild and my strikes get
hit,” Selden said. “I have to start getting to the
point where I don’t have to learn so much.”
While getting strikes over the plate wasn’t a problem when
the season began, it has become incrementally tougher and tougher
as the season trudges on. Selden walked only seven batters in 115
2/3 innings in the non-conference schedule, but has already walked
29 in 81 1/3 innings in Pac-10 play.
“She starts pitching defensively, and these hitters in the
Pac-10, they’re not going to chase the ball out of the strike
zone,” UCLA coach Sue Enquist said.
And though she has experienced an up-and-down season in her
first year, Selden’s troubles usually fit into two patterns:
She either struggles in the first couple of innings or the last
few, but is dominant throughout the rest of the game. In both of
those types of starts, her problem is the same ““ letting one
mistake get to her and not focusing on the next batter.
“Right now, inconsistency is her problem,” said UCLA
catcher Emily Zaplatosch, who has caught all of Selden’s
starts. “At times she’s dominant, and other times she
just doesn’t have it. She and I are working on
that.”
In Saturday’s game, in which she struggled mightily for
the first two innings against Stanford, Selden allowed seven runs.
After allowing three singles and a walk in the first inning,
Stanford’s Erin Howe hit a three-run homer. And in the second
inning, after allowing an infield hit that she looked to have a
chance to field cleanly, Selden gave up a two-run homer to Michelle
Smith.
“In the first two innings, I don’t know what
happened. I just wasn’t as strong,” Selden said.
“But in the last five, I knew exactly what I wanted to
do.”
After that start, she regained her dominant form, shutting out
the Cardinal the rest of the game, allowing only three hits, with
only one out of the infield. Those seven runs, however, were too
much for UCLA to overcome, as it succumbed to Stanford 7-5.
Selden seemed to solve her early-inning woes on Sunday, heading
into the sixth inning with a one-hit shutout.
Then, in the sixth inning, with her team holding onto a 3-0
lead, Selden started to fall apart.
After allowing three infield hits, she surrendered a two-RBI
line-drive single to Erin Howe. But Selden still entered the
seventh needing only three outs for a victory. Instead, she allowed
a home run to the leadoff hitter, Meghan Sickler, and allowed
another two-run homer to Smith later in the inning.
“(Selden) threw a beautiful game out there, until she had
one slip,” Enquist said. “She has to work on her
ability to regroup and just focus on the next batter.”
While she has not enjoyed the success she reveled in at the
beginning of the season, Selden still shows flashes of dominance.
And traditionally in softball, all it takes is one dominant pitcher
to guide a team deep into the postseason. The last two years, it
was Keira Goerl who led the Bruins to back-to-back national
championships.
Because of that, in preparation for the NCAA Tournament, Enquist
has tried putting Selden in different situations, including in
relief, where Selden is forced to focus right away.
“With more experience in tough situations, it’ll be
good for her,” Enquist said. “She’s getting
better, but she still has a ways to go.”