The UCLA women’s softball team couldn’t have opened
up its season any better. In just their first game of the season
(and the first of two games played on Wednesday), the Bruins set
four new all-time team records for runs in a game (22), RBIs in a
game (21) and walks in a game (14), defeating the Sacramento State
Hornets 22-3 in five innings before the mercy rule was invoked. The
Bruins’ previous record was set against Stanford on April 9,
1993, when UCLA won 21-0. Both middle infielders, senior second
baseman Caitlin Benyi and junior shortstop Jodie Legaspi, homered
in the game, and Lisa Dodd pitched five four-hit innings to record
what was likely one of the easiest wins of her career. In the
Bruins’ second game of the day, the five-inning mercy rule
also came into effect. The Bruins scored nine runs in the second
inning, and Angelica Selden tossed a one-hit shutout and struck out
12 as the Bruins defeated Cal Poly by a score of 13-0. The Bruins,
who lost in the national championship game last season, did not
score double-digit runs in any of their 60 games last season.
MEDLOCK HEARING: UCLA Junior place kicker
Justin Medlock is set to appear in Los Angeles County court today
to set a preliminary hearing for his involvement in a one-car
accident that occurred on Dec. 10, 2005, which resulted in
Medlock’s suspension from the Vitalis Sun Bowl and the injury
of golfer junior Hannah Jun. According to police, Medlock crashed a
1998 Toyota Tacoma into a call box on Interstate 405 in Inglewood
at 2:52 a.m. on that December morning. Jun, 20, suffered spinal
cord injuries and was stuck inside the vehicle. Medlock was found
walking down the interstate an hour later, nearly a mile away from
the accident. Medlock was charged with one count each of driving
under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving with a
blood alcohol level that exceeded the legal limit of .08. If
convicted, Medlock faces up to six years in jail. Since the
accident, Medlock has been suspended indefinitely from the football
team by coach Karl Dorrell and his future with the program is now
in doubt after the Bruins recruited Notre Dame of Sherman
Oaks’ Kai Forbath, the No. 1 prep place kicker in the
nation.
GYMNASTICS: The 11th-ranked UCLA gymnastics
team (8-1) will travel up north for a quad meet against California,
UC Davis and Sacramento State. The meet will take place tonight at
Haas Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. UCLA returns home for the John Wooden
Challenge against Washington on Sunday. The Challenge will honor
not only both teams’ academic and athletic achievements, but
also coach Wooden himself. The meet will take place at 2 p.m. on
Sunday in Pauley Pavilion. This will be the third time UCLA has
faced Washington this season. The Bruins won both prior
meetings.
Compiled by Bruin Sports senior staff.