Anjelica Selden released the ball and stood motionless, just for a second. But Georgia’s Melissa Wood swung and missed, and the Bruin ace sprinted toward home plate.
As Selden wrapped her arms around catcher Jennifer Schroeder, the song “Oklahoma” blared from the stadium speakers. With Sunday’s 6-0 victory over the No. 15 Bulldogs (46-24), the No. 2 Bruins (50-7) advanced to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. The Bruins defeated the Bulldogs 6-1 on Saturday in the first game of the best-of-three series.
UCLA was locked in the entire weekend, recovering from uncharacteristic play in the regional round when it allowed three runs in three consecutive games for the first time this season.
“I think it was a mixture of a hot pitcher, and just our bats were a little off,” Wood said. “We prided ourselves on our hitting all year, and we just came out a little cold. (That’s) definitely not to take credit away from Selden ““ she’s a great pitcher.”
On Saturday, Selden (28-3) was stifling. Although the weather cooled considerably from last weekend’s scorching temperatures, Selden was on fire. She got off to a rough start, allowing a home run in the first inning, but she quickly settled down and pitched tremendously for the rest of the game. The senior tossed a complete game, allowing just that one run off four hits while striking out 11.
The Bruins’ bats would respond in the bottom of the first.
A throwing error put senior Krista Colburn on base after she tried to sacrifice bunt freshman Katie Schroeder to second. After junior Amanda Kamekona laid down another successful sacrifice, sophomore Megan Langenfeld doubled to the gap in left, driving in two runs to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish. The come-from-behind win evened UCLA’s season record to 7-7 in games in which the opposing team scores first.
“It’s always great to follow the lead of (Selden), who got a knock off her in that first inning and then bounced back and completely shut them down,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “That builds confidence for this team.”
In the top of the fifth, Selden reached another milestone in her illustrious career: She struck out Georgia’s Victoria Sanders for career strikeout 1,400.
“I don’t like for (my statistics) to define me, because it’s a team sport,” Selden said. “And I’m doing everything I can to keep my team confident.”
On Sunday, after trading zeroes for the first three innings, the Bruins broke through in the fourth with a run on an RBI single by freshman GiOnna DiSalvatore. The Bruins added a second run in the fifth, another in the sixth and three more in the seventh for a final score of 6-0.
Selden turned in another tremendous performance, tossing her second complete game of the series, allowing no runs and two hits while striking out 10.
While the Bruin pitching was on full display in the NCAA Super Regionals this weekend, the offense proved to balance the performance. As a team, the Bruins had 15 walks and 15 hits. And although the Bruins stranded 19 base runners, their margins of victory were such that it left them unconcerned.
BEANBALLED (AGAIN): Selden ran into some minor trouble in the sixth when she hit Sanders with a pitch.
It was the second time this season that Selden had hit Sanders in the head; the first time was on Feb. 22, when UCLA and Georgia played in the Palm Springs Classic.
Sanders also collided headfirst into a wall Saturday, trying for a foul ball that was just a little beyond her reach.
Sanders said she holds no ill will toward Selden, and Georgia coach Lu Harris-Champer said Selden apologized.