Saturday’s softball game truly was a game of inches. If
the long shot hit by Washington’s Lauren Greer had been hit
an inch shorter, it wouldn’t have bounced off the top of the
Easton Stadium outfield wall for a two-run home run. If the blast
by UCLA’s Kristen Dedmon had been hit an inch longer, it
wouldn’t have hit the top of the outfield wall and bounced
back into the field for a double that kept the tying run from
scoring. But instead, UCLA lost the game of inches to Washington,
2-1, to split the two-game series. “I wasn’t sure I had
hit it all, so I just kept running,” Dedmon said. “It
didn’t go my way. What can you do?” The sophomore had
hit a home run earlier in the game to give the Bruins their only
run. However, she was stranded at second base double after hitting
the double in the bottom of the seventh inning with no outs. Each
of the Bruins’ runs over the weekend came off home runs. In
UCLA’s 4-3 win over the Huskies on Friday, Jodie Legaspi hit
a grand slam that made the difference. Following Friday’s
win, the No. 10 Bruins (24-11, 5-5 Pac-10) were on a five-game
winning streak in which they had seemed to find their niche
offensively. But Washington’s Caitlin Noble, who isn’t
known as one of the better pitchers in the conference, made the top
six hitters in the UCLA batting order look inept on both Friday and
Saturday. The No. 1-6 hitters on the Bruins went 3-for-31 in the
series, while the bottom of the order, including Dedmon, Krista
Colburn and Ashley Herrera, went 8-for-16. Although those hitters
set the table for what are supposed to be UCLA’s strongest
hitters, that table frequently went uncleared against the No. 23
Huskies. “We didn’t capitalize when we had the
chances,” UCLA coach Sue Enquist said. “We were
swinging too early in the count, putting us behind in the
counts.” Saturday, the Bruins twice had runners on second
with no outs with the top of the order coming up. However, they
couldn’t even move the runner to third on either occasion.
“Our bottom of the order kept us in the games,” Enquist
said. “They put us in position to win.” The Bruins also
wasted a quality start from Lisa Dodd, who threw 6-2/3 innings
while allowing only two runs to a Washington team (22-15, 4-6
Pac-10) that leads the Pac-10 in many offensive categories. Dodd
allowed only four hits, but did give up five non-intentional walks.
After a subpar start to the season in the circle for Dodd, Saturday
marked her second consecutive quality start against a tough
opponent. “I pitched well and made a lot of progress,”
Dodd said. “I liked my accuracy and was hitting my spots. But
walking one is unacceptable, let alone five.” UCLA will play
Washington again in its next game on Wednesday, but this time, in
Seattle. The Bruins were a couple of inches away from a six-game
winning streak and a series sweep. Instead, they reopened an
offensive slump that they had been suffering through for most of
the season.
SCHEDULE CHANGE: To make up a game that had been previously
rained out at Stanford, the Cardinal and the Bruins will play a
doubleheader at Easton Stadium on Sunday, instead of the previously
scheduled single game that day. The first game will start at 11
a.m.