MICHAEL MANTEL Senior pitcher/centerfielder
Amanda Freed and the rest of the Bruins play
Stanford and Cal this weekend at Easton Stadium.
By Michael Sneag
Daily Bruin Contributor
There are no easy games on the Pac-10 schedule, and the UCLA
softball team knows it.
After a hectic weekend in the desert playing the two Arizona
schools, the No. 2 Bruins are back at home hosting No. 3 Stanford
(33-5, 4-2 Pac-10) on Friday and No. 8 Cal (37-12, 4-2 Pac-10) on
Saturday and Sunday.
Even though the Bruins (34-6, 2-3 Pac-10) ended up 1-2 on the
trip, they played well against Arizona and the win on Sunday was a
huge boost for the team. The win ended both Arizona’s 70-game
home winning streak and Jenny Finch’s personal 60-game
winning streak.
“I saw a conviction this weekend that I had never
seen,” head coach Sue Enquist said. “How we recovered
to come back and find a way to win on Sunday was incredible. I know
a lot of teams that would have just folded. Now the challenge is to
duplicate that feeling.”
This weekend will kick off seven straight home games for the
Bruins and they are excited to be back home. After ending
Arizona’s incredible home winning streak, the Bruins want to
start a similar streak of their own. They have won eight in a row
at home dating back to Feb. 23 when Cal State Long Beach took the
first game of a doubleheader.
“We want to sweep Cal and Stanford,” senior Crissy
Buck said. “This is our house. We don’t want anybody to
come into our house and beat us.”
In order to back up that statement the Bruins will have to be on
their game. Like the rest of the Pac-10, both Cal and Stanford are
quality teams.
Stanford comes in on a five game winning streak after sweeping
the Oregon schools last weekend. Both starters Maureen LeCocq
(13-2), who was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week, and Tori Nyberg
(19-3) have been superb lately, pitching three shutouts in those
five games.
Senior centerfielder Jessica Mendoza was recently named both the
Louisville Slugger Player of the Week and Pac-10 Player of the Week
and is leading the team in almost every offensive category. The
Bruins will have to find a way to limit her production if they want
to shut down the Cardinal offense.
Cal is led by Jocelyn Forrest. She has a 17-7 mark, a 1.06 ERA
and was recently named to the list of finalists for ASA Collegiate
Player of the Year. However, defense has been their mainstay so
far. The Bears are leading the Pac-10 in fielding percentage and
have the fewest errors with 24, compared to the Bruins’
40.
The Bruins are eager to carry the momentum from last
Sunday’s game into this weekend. They want to prove that they
are the No. 1 team in the country even after losing three of their
last four, and are hoping Easton Stadium can give them a bit of an
edge this weekend.
“The team knows that they can’t take any time off to
relax,” Enquist said. “We are going to have to be smart
at the plate and stay focused at all times. Both teams don’t
make a lot of mistakes and we are going to have to earn
it.”