Storm continues for softball with 2-0 loss to Cal

Storm continues for softball with 2-0 loss to Cal

Top-ranked Bruins drop second straight,

then wake up against last-place Cardinal

By Melissa Anderson

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

When it rains, it pours. And for the UCLA softball team, the
storm continued this weekend as the top-ranked Bruins dropped their
second straight game, 2-0, to No. 11 California.

After scoring just nine runs in its last four games, including a
narrow 5-3 win over Cal last weekend at home, UCLA headed to the
Bay Area hoping to wake up its offense­ which was averaging
seven runs per game.

But Saturday afternoon, the Bruins (36-4 overall, 18-2 Pac-10)
seemed no match for Golden Bear pitching ace Whitney Floyd , who
allowed just three hits in the opener while striking out six to
lead Cal (33-15, 13-4) in the upset

"Whitney Floyd’s strength, the off-speed pitch, is our weakness
right now," UCLA co-head coach Sue Enquist said. "She was very
effective. We hit the ball hard, but it was always right at people.
That really put the pressure on (UCLA pitcher) Tanya Harding to be
perfect."

Harding was near perfect through the first five innings, keeping
the Golden Bear bats silent before giving up a game-winning two-run
homer to catcher Gillian Boxx­ her sixth of the year­ in
the bottom of the sixth inning.

After issuing a walk to shortstop Kirsten Drake, a sacrifice
attempt by center fielder Erika Perez forced the out at second
base. Boxx then took hold of the first pitch from Harding and hit
it off the scoreboard in left field.

The Bruins threatened to come alive in the top of the seventh
after a walk to pinch hitter Kim Wuest and a double by shortstop
Nicole Odom with two outs, but Floyd struck out right fielder
Laurie Fritz to give Cal its first win in 18 meetings with
UCLA.

The second game of Saturday’s double header was postponed due to
rain and will be made up Tuesday afternoon at Strawberry Field.

The down-trodden Bruins traveled to Palo Alto Sunday for a
double header with last-place Stanford (14-30, 1-21) and a chance
to revive their offensive prowess.

"The team was really down (after Saturday’s loss), and for the
first time we really had bottomed out," Enquist said. "There was
nothing else to say. We just had to go out there and do it."

What the Bruins did was hand the Cardinal two losses.

With sophomore pitcher B’Ann Burns on the mound in the opener,
UCLA had no trouble cruising to a 11-1, six-inning victory at El
Camino Park.

"It’s nice to see us do it even though it’s just Stanford,"
Enquist said. "The way we’ve struggled, we easily could have had
trouble with Stanford."

Junior Kaci Clark made her first appearance for the Bruins since
Harding’s arrival in Westwood over Spring Break. Clark (8-0)
cruised through five innings before Burns came in to finish off the
14-1 win.

"Kaci really went right at them," Enquist said. "She might not
have had the control she would have liked since she hasn’t pitched
in a while, but she went all out."

Offensively, senior Jennifer Brundage led the Bruins in the
first game with a three-for-four performance, including a home run
to put the game away.

In the second game, junior Kelly Howard was the spark for UCLA,
going four-for-four at the plate with a home run and five RBIs.
Brundage chipped in with her eighth home run of the season.

* * *

UCLA will face Oregon this afternoon in Berkeley before
finishing out the five-game road trip tomorrow with the make-up
game against Cal.

The Ducks, who swept the Golden Bears Sunday, could be a
dangerous opponent if the Bruins are looking ahead to Tuesday’s
rematch with the Bears.

"The momentum has been generated (against Stanford)," Enquist
said. "But we don’t want to underestimate Oregon, knowing that they
beat Cal twice. This team (UCLA) will continue with its offensive
momentum if they just start trusting themselves again."