It’s been 11 months since the two teams last met on
college softball’s grandest stage. But UCLA and Cal, who have
faced each other in the last two NCAA Championship games, both won
by UCLA, are downplaying this weekend’s meeting.
“This weekend is pretty big, but it’s just as big as
any other weekend in the Pac-10,” UCLA catcher Emily
Zaplatosch said.
“Every game in the Pac-10 is important,” Cal coach
Diane Ninemire said. “We don’t look at who’s
across the dugout. We respect everyone we play.”
This weekend does mark the toughest test of the year for the No.
13 Bruins. On top of playing at No. 3 Cal on Saturday and Sunday,
UCLA will play at No. 10 Stanford on Friday. It will be the first
time all season that the Bruins will face two opponents ranked
ahead of them in the same weekend.
UCLA (19-9, 0-3 Pac-10) comes into this test in its biggest
slump of the season, losing its first three Pac-10 games of the
season this past weekend against the Oregon schools. That, and not
the quality of its opponents, is why the team says this weekend is
important.
“We’re really excited to get back out there and
compete,” UCLA coach Sue Enquist said. “After you
struggle you always want to get back out there with your uniforms
on when it counts.”
“I think that it’s important for us to get these
games after how we did last weekend,” first baseman and
pitcher Lisa Dodd said. “We have to show ourselves and give
us that inner confidence.”
UCLA did start off on the wrong foot in the Pac-10 season a year
ago as well, starting off 0-4, but that was after dominating its
non-conference opponents, something this year’s team did not
accomplish. The Bruins went 19-6 this season in non-conference,
losing the most non-conference games since 1998.
Meanwhile, Cal has been dominant so far this season, going 31-3
(2-1 Pac-10) and hovering in the national rankings between No. 1
and No. 3 all year long.
“They’re a veteran team,” Ninemire said of
UCLA. “They’ve been to the World Series each of the
last three years, and they’ve overcome a lot of adversity.
They have a mature team and they’ve got a grip on what it
takes to win.”
Stanford has also played well, ranking as high as No. 7 before
dropping two of its three games this past weekend to the Arizona
schools. The one win, however, was against No. 2 Arizona.
“Stanford’s hitting the ball well and getting
contributions from a lot of players,” Enquist said.
UCLA last faced Stanford in the first game of last year’s
Women’s College World Series, a game which UCLA won. So even
while they might not admit it, both Bay Area teams will likely have
revenge on their minds this weekend.
“They’ve waited 11 months to play us,” Enquist
said. “There will be an exciting energy.”