By Michael Sneag
Daily Bruin Contributor
Everybody knows that Vegas is the place for gambling and
distractions. However, as the UCLA softball team heads off to the
desert to play in the UNLV Classic, they are focused on two things:
maintaining their discipline and continuing their scorching 9-0
start.
The team is looking to continue its early momentum while facing
some quality competition, including No. 4 LSU, No. 12 Nebraska and
No. 13 Alabama, along with Texas Tech and BYU.
The Bruins recently defeated Texas Tech (an 11-0, five
inning-win) and Nebraska (6-1) last weekend at the Fiesta Classic
in Phoenix. As usual, they are focusing on one game at a time.
“We are far from peaking, but the theme this year is
discipline for seven innings,” head coach Sue Enquist said.
“The mental challenge is to stay up for every game and to
play pitch-by-pitch softball. We know we are not perfect, but it is
fun to work at trying to attain that.”
The pitching duo of senior Amanda Freed and sophomore Keira
Goerl has been incredible so far. Neither pitcher has allowed an
earned run and have already chalked up a no-hitter each.
Forming a solid one-two punch, they have combined for 68
strikeouts in only 52 innings and have stifled opponents, holding
them to a .131 batting average. They try to challenge each other
but it is a very supportive bond.
“We are both behind each other,” said Goerl.
“We both want each other to do well. I know that when Amanda
does well, I want to do the same and we do feed off each
other.”
The offense hasn’t exactly been in a slump either. The
team is hitting .420, led by junior Natasha Watley (.625), senior
Stacey Nuveman (.571) and junior Tairia Mims (.538). They are
averaging eight runs a game but know that they can’t get
complacent with their performance so early on.
“I think that even though we are getting a lot of hits,
they aren’t the type of hits that we want to be
getting,” Mims said. “We have been pulling outside
pitches and we can always work on that stuff. However, we are
strong from top to bottom, and that is why we are putting up the
kind of numbers we are right now.”
As always, the Bruins are never satisfied and have been working
very hard this week on their defense, which allowed five errors in
the 4-0 win against Southwest Texas State last weekend.
If the Bruins continue their recent dominance and stay
disciplined throughout the tournament, they are a good bet to
remain undefeated when they return from Las Vegas.