Bruins ready to challenge Oregon State

Friday, April 26, 1996

No. 4 softball heads north for two Pac-10 doubleheadersBy Brent
Boyd

Daily Bruin Contributor

The UCLA softball team heads out on the road once again this
weekend, surpassing the halfway mark in its season-ending 14-game
road trip when they play consecutive doubleheaders against Pacific
10 foes Oregon State and Oregon. That is, of course, if they get
the opportunity to take the field.

Rain has wreaked havoc for the schedule makers of both clubs
this past weekend, as game after game has been washed away. The
Ducks were only able to play one of their six scheduled games last
week, while the Beavers had an additional five contests
cancelled.

After falling to third place in the conference, No. 4 UCLA (32-8
overall, 11-7 Pac-10) is in desperate need of a couple of
doubleheader sweeps. Both Oregon schools were playing some of their
best softball of the season before the rain. As a result, their
momentum has slowed, and the Bruins may have picked the most
opportune time to make their yearly trek to the Beaver State.

Oregon State, which the Bruins meet in Saturday’s contest in
Corvallis, has recorded a respectable five victories in their
previous 12 games after starting the season a disastrous 9-17.
Although occupying the conference cellar with a 2-11 record, the
Beavers have proven of late that they can compete with some of the
better conference teams.

They split with the Ducks three weeks ago, and last weekend the
Beavers were victorious over Stanford. In addition, they took
12th-ranked California to 10 innings before succumbing, 6-1, and
losing twice to No. 24 Arizona State by one-run deficits.

Of the earlier OSU losses, four came at the hands of the Bruins.
UCLA won both games between the two clubs in the Easton
Invitational, with 10-2 and 11-3 victories, and swept them in a
Pac-10 doubleheader 8-0 and 10-1 on Mar. 26.

However, the Bruins will try to avoid any overconfidence they
might possess as a result of such domination.

"We have the discipline to take it one game at a time," said
UCLA co-head coach Sue Enquist. "We have the focus not to play to
the opponent, but to ourselves. We need to keep our standard of
excellence, and we are starting to do that."

However, the Bruins did almost exactly the opposite on Tuesday,
when they barely squeaked by the highly-undermatched Broncos from
Santa Clara with 1-0 and 4-2 victories.

On Sunday, UCLA continues its weekend in Eugene, matching up
against Oregon. The Ducks (19-18, 5-6) have been surging of late,
winning 11 of its last 14 games ­ including a season-high
seven-game winning streak ­ before falling to California last
Saturday. As a result, Oregon has moved up to fifth place in the
conference and has the opportunity to position itself for
postseason consideration.

But to do this, the Ducks will have to get by a UCLA squad they
have already lost to twice this year, when UCLA pitcher B’Ann Burns
shut them down for two victories.

The Ducks are led by senior shortstop Kathy Stahl, a two-time
first-team all-conference selection. She is currently hitting .430,
good for sixth in the conference, and she leads the club with five
home runs, 33 RBIs and 27 runs scored. On the mound, freshman
Jennie Cook has become the club’s ace, going 9-7, and she will be
given the task of shutting down the best hitting team in the
nation, with the Bruins maintaining a .365 average.