Two weeks. Three states. Seven games. Five worthy opponents.
The longest road trip of the year for the UCLA softball team comes at a crucial time in what has been an up-and-down season so far for the Bruins.
As No. 14 UCLA (26-10, 2-3 Pac-10) begins the long set of away games against No. 16 Oregon State (31-12, 3-2) today and against No. 10 Oregon (37-5, 3-2) on Saturday and Sunday, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez wants her team to focus on one game at a time.
“I’m not even going to focus past the first game,” Inouye-Perez said.
“Honestly, that is my approach. If you start looking ahead, then it becomes long.”
At the same time, Inouye-Perez and her players recognize how imperative it is that they get off to a strong start against the Oregon schools.
The Bruins haven’t yet lived up to their high expectations and ambitions this season, but with the bulk of the Pac-10 schedule left to play, there is plenty of time to savor a strong run heading into postseason play.
“This weekend is huge,” Inouye-Perez said.
“We’re still trying to work on our consistency against good opponents to prepare for postseason. The Pac-10 is always a bonus, but no one’s handing out trophies for the Pac-10.”
The Oregon schools have proven to be stiff competition over the last two seasons for the Bruins and both schools are playing some of their best softball in their respective histories this season.
Two years ago, a UCLA team that ended up going to the national title game later in the season was swept by the Oregon schools, losing the first game to a decent Beaver team while losing two games to a mediocre Duck team.
Both Oregon State and Oregon are better teams than they once were, and a UCLA team that is struggling to find its identity early on in the season cannot afford any of the defensive or offensive lapses that have plagued them early on in the Pac-10 season.
“It’s going to be about sticking to battling through seven innings and just taking that mind-set into every one of these games we have in the next few weeks,” junior outfielder Krista Colburn said. “That will be what gets us through.”
Against the Beavers today, the Bruins will likely be up against one of the top pitchers in the Pac-10. Oregon State senior Brianne McGowan comes into the matchup sporting a 19-8 record and a 1.50 ERA.
McGowan enters the contest with the Bruins as the all-time leader for the Beavers in wins (94) and shutouts (34) and her 808 career strikeouts are just one shy of the team record.
“She’s well-rounded,” Inouye-Perez said of McGowan.
“She’s pretty quick, she has all parts of the plate covered. She doesn’t necessarily have the best breaking in anything, but because she has a variety of pitches, she can be effective. With a pitcher like that, you go into it with the game plan that you can’t be ready to attack every single pitch. Our ability to keep the game simple, pick our pitch, and attack is going to be the key to our success.”