Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez has said all season long that one through nine, the Bruins can hit and produce runs.
No. 2 seed UCLA softball (51-6, 20-4 Pac-12) advanced to the Women’s College World Series after defeating James Madison (51-10, 20-1 Colonial Athletic Association) twice in a best-of-three series. In both games, all but one inning in which the Bruins scored were started by the bottom of the lineup getting on base.
Sophomore utility Kinsley Washington and freshman utility Kelli Godin – the two who bat at the bottom of the order – went a combined 6-for-11 at the plate with six runs against the Dukes this past weekend.
“When they are doing their thing, we are a completely different offense,” Inouye-Perez said. “When (Washington) and (Godin) are in motion, all of a sudden we put on even more pressure once we get back to the top. When you see that happening, man I get super excited because we have a lot of options and it helps our offense build momentum.”
Washington has batted in the eighth position most of this season, hitting .305 and coming across the plate 39 times this season.
Inouye-Perez said Washington was key for the Bruins in game one against the Dukes, being the first player to get on base in both of the innings in which UCLA scored.
Through the first two rounds of the postseason, Washington has gone 7-for-16 at the plate.
“I think the most impressive part of (Washington) is that the game has been challenging her all year and she just hasn’t been getting the right outcome,” Inouye-Perez said. “Our game is that people will look at the stat sheet and determine someone’s ability, but if you really pay attention as we have, she’s been squaring balls up all year. She went through the highs and lows, but the game is finally paying her back.”
The nine hole in a batting order, where Godin has been almost all season, is often referred to as the second leadoff spot. She leads the Pac-12 with a .446 batting average and leads the team with a .500 on-base percentage.
Godin went 3-for-3 in game two against the Dukes, laying down a bunt single in the third inning that ignited a four-run Bruin rally.
The bottom of the order did its job of getting on base and the heart of the Bruins’ lineup followed suit, driving in runs and adding to the lead.
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Aaliyah Jordan, redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia and senior first baseman Taylor Pack – UCLA’s three, four and five hitters – combined for all seven RBIs in the series-clinching win Saturday.
Pack, who hit two home runs in the win after going yard once in the 12 games prior to Saturday, credited Inouye-Perez for reminding Pack who she is and has been all year.
“Sometimes I get caught up in the game and let things speed up,” Pack said. “All week the plan was to hit the riseball and get on top of everything. Every time (Inouye-Perez) comes out, she just reminds me to only focus on me in my at-bats and ground myself back to center.”
Freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo, the winning pitcher in game two, said pitching behind this kind of offensive attack allows her to feel loose and not worry about when she makes a mistake.
“Obviously I never want to (make a mistake), but I know the offense is going to have my back and it’s a really great feeling to have,” Faraimo said.