By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
UCLA is back in Oklahoma City, ready to defend its NCAA title.
The Bruins aren’t the favorite this year, but they are
playing like it.
Third-ranked UCLA (43-11) raced through last weekend’s
regional tournament on the strength of Amanda Freed’s
pitching and solid contributions at the plate from every
player.
The fourth-seeded Bruins take on fifth seed Alabama at Don E.
Porter Hall of Fame Stadium in the first game of the
double-elimination Women’s College World Series.
“Everything’s going well,” third baseman Julie
Adams said. “We’re all feeling comfortable in the box,
and that allows us to be aggressive.”
“Our hitting is coming around,” Lyndsey Klein said.
“One through nine, everyone is hitting.”
Aggressive enough to bat .404 for the tournament, the Bruins
have been producing runs with speed ““ an NCAA tournament
record 10 steals against Canisius ““ and power, as Lyndsey
Klein, Julie Marshall, Crissy Buck and Tairia Mims each homered for
the Bruins in the tournament.
UCLA’s main hope is a seven-headed monster. Freed worked
all seven of her pitches to absolute perfection in the regional.
“They were trying to pick the change, but then I brought the
heat. They were confused,” Freed said.
Surprisingly, Freed is at her best when she is not using her
best pitch, the changeup. The results are best when the opposition
waits on the change and then Freed brings her fastball, as she did
in the regional championship against Florida State. In that game,
Freed no-hit the Seminoles for six innings until Serita Brooks
legged out an infield single.
What makes the Bruins even more dangerous now than during the
regular season is the play of freshman Natasha Watley.
“I feel more confident out there now,” Watley said.
“When I’m comfortable, I can get more done.”
Watley’s confidence has translated into a .434 batting
average and a school-record 32 stolen bases.
Lyndsey Klein has also raised her level of play as the playoffs
started, becoming the Bruins’ best clutch performer.
The emergence of Crissy Buck and Julie Adams at the plate in
recent games has really helped UCLA become a threat all the way
through the lineup. Buck raised her average over 50 points in the
past two weeks.
Adams has a tendency to heat up in May, last year winning the
World Series and Regional Most Outstanding Player awards. In the
regional last weekend, Adams went four-for-four in one game, and
forced pitchers to throw to Julie Marshall by consistently getting
on base.
“I think we’re in a good place right now,”
said Bruin head coach Sue Enquist. “When you stay aggressive,
the talent at the plate just comes through, and I think
that’s what’s happening right now.”
The Bruins have been hit with inconsistency this year, but
Enquist has tried to make sure that the problem does not pop up
again by running extra-intense practices. The team, in an attempt
to maintain focus, has elected to stay in a separate hotel from all
the other teams.
The trip to Oklahoma will be different from last year’s.
In 1999, the Bruins were the odds-on favorite to win, but this year
the Bruins are considered the third best team in the country.
Looming in the near future is a likely matchup with No. 1
Washington, who won the season series against the Bruins two games
to one.
“I’m not even thinking about that right now,”
Freed said. “We’re trained to take everything one
pitch, one inning, one game at a time. I remember from last year,
Alabama is good team.”
Up first for the Bruins is the Alabama Crimson Tide. This is the
first-ever World Series for “˜Bama, and breaking in with UCLA
isn’t their ideal situation.
Alabama’s roster is largely similar to last year’s
team, which UCLA beat 7-0 in the NCAA regional tournament. In that
game Courtney Dale completely shut down the Tide with an
overpowering one-hitter. The Bruins will no doubt look back to that
game for some clues on Alabama.
The Tide is powered by the best hitter in the South, slugger
Kelly Kretschman. Ace Shelly Laird went 37-6 on the year, but
Alabama did not have as tough a schedule as some of the other World
Series schools.
The Bruins are the fourth seed, and Alabama the fifth. The
winner will move on to play the winner of the Washington-DePaul
matchup, and the loser will play the loser of that game.