EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Julie Hoshizaki
runs home during a game against UNLV during the Easton Classic in
March. Stanford d. UCLA 1-0 UCLA
d. Berkeley 2-1, 5-1
By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Contributor
Like many Bruins this past week, the No. 1 UCLA softball team
(37-1, 2-1 Pac-10) went on a trip, this time to the trees of No. 5
Stanford (33-2, 2-1) and the No. 3 Golden Bears of Cal (39-4,
0-3).
On that trip, the Bruins got their first taste of defeat. They
liked it about as much as you liked the just-add-water meal you had
on your last trip into the forest. So, they did what you did
““ fed it to the Bears.
Friday, the Cardinal defeated the Bruins 1-0. Junior pitcher
Amanda Freed accepted her first loss of the year, lowering her
record to 14-1. Meanwhile, Stanford sophomore Dana Sorensen pitched
seven innings of shutout ball, allowing the Bruins only two hits
and raising her record to 16-1.
Stanford produced the lone run of the game in the fourth inning,
when junior outfielder Jessica Mendoza walked with one out. She
then stole second, and scored when junior first baseman Sarah
Beeson reached base on an error by Bruin sophomore, leftfielder
Erin Rahn.
Though Freed allowed only two hits and no earned runs, the
combination of Sorensen’s dominant pitching and the
Bruins’ defensive miscues was enough to give UCLA its first
loss of the year.
Technically an upset based on the teams’ rankings, the
Bruins know that they were defeated by a worthy opponent.
“We knew they had good pitching. We knew they could play
us tight, and we knew if we let them in, they could pull it
off,” junior catcher Stacey Nuveman said. “They did
what they needed to do to push across a run and then they held
us.”
The team was able to find a silver lining in the defeat.
“It sucks that we lost, but there’s a positive out
of it,” sophomore shortstop Natasha Watley said. “It
was good to see what we need to work on.”
Saturday the Bruins crossed the San Francisco Bay to Berkeley,
where the proverbial grass proved to be greener.
UCLA defeated Cal 2-1 in nine innings, with both Bruin freshman
Keira Goerl and Golden Bear senior Nicole DiSalvio throwing
complete games. The credit for the low score went to both
teams’ defense, as Goerl struck out only two players and
DiSalvio just one.
However, the defense also provided the first run of the game.
Bear junior third baseman Candace Harper allowed Bruin leftfielder
Lupe Brambila to reach base on an error. Brambila advanced on a
groundout by Freed and a sacrifice bunt by Watley, and finally
scored on a double by sophomore third baseman Tairia Mims.
In the sixth inning, the Bears evened the score. Goerl allowed a
single each to sophomore leftfielder Kristen Morley, senior
centerfielder Pauline Dueñas, and sophomore first baseman
Veronica Nelson. Nelson got credit for the RBI, scoring Morley and
deadlocking the game at 1-1.
The 513 in attendance were treated to two extra frames, as the
game ended after the Bruins scored a second run in the top of the
ninth inning. Senior designated hitter Courtney Dale doubled and
freshman rightfielder Marcel Torres advanced the runner to third
with a single.
Sophomore second baseman Monique Mejia put the Bruins ahead with
an RBI double. Goerl faced four batters in the bottom half of the
inning and claimed her 13th win of the season. The loss was
DiSalvio’s first of the year, against 14 wins.
The Bruins concluded their Northern California trip Sunday with
a 5-1 win over California. Freed returned to her winning ways,
allowing six hits over six innings en route to her 15th win of the
year. Dale closed the game for the Bruins, striking out the
side.
Freed, on the offense, helped her cause with a game-high two
RBIs, with Nuveman and freshman first baseman Claire Sua
contributing one each.
The Bruins were able to tag junior pitcher Jocelyn Forest for
all five runs in her 3 1/3 innings pitched. Sophomore Jen Deering
threw the final 3 2/3 innings, limiting the Bruins to one hit. The
loss was Forest’s third of the season, dropping her to
20-3.
UCLA deemed the weekend a success despite its first loss.
“Two wins out of three in the Pac-10 is always going to be
a success for this team,” Nuveman said. “We were a
little bit rusty facing Stanford on Friday, but maybe it’ll
be a wake-up call.”
UCLA Head Coach Sue Enquist reflected on the team’s
immediate rebound from its first defeat after 35 consecutive
victories.
“I think we did a good job of coming back and playing some
good softball on Saturday and Sunday,” she said.
“We’ve got some momentum going into the midweek
game.”