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Softball books trip to College World Series

By Daily Bruin Staff

May 19, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Monday, May 20, 1996

Home runs help Bruins to victory over FullertonBy Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Contributor

FULLERTON, Calif. — After reaching the NCAA Regional
championship game by virtue of four home runs, the UCLA softball
team decided to make its way to Columbus, Ga. for the College World
Series one base at a time.

A bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the
fifth gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead and all the momentum they would
need to clinch a victory over Cal State Fullerton and the NCAA
Regional championship Sunday.

Needing two victories over the Titans, UCLA came through with
14-1 and 7-2 wins to reach the College World Series for the tenth
consecutive year.

"We appreciate our regional title a lot more than in years past
because we had to work real hard for it," UCLA co-head coach Sue
Enquist said.

Losing their opening-round game to the same Titans, 5-1 on
Friday, the Bruins were forced to come through the loser’s bracket
in the double-elimination tournament and win four games in a span
of two days.

On Saturday, UCLA kept its season alive by eliminating Southwest
Missouri State and Cal State Northridge, setting the scene for
Sunday’s championship match-up against Fullerton.

After scoring just one run against pitcher Liza Brown in
Friday’s contest, the Bruins were forced to face the freshman Titan
ace in the rematch. But this time, it was a different story.

The Bruins started off quickly when Alleah Poulson picked an
opportune time to hit her first home run of the season, giving UCLA
a 3-0 first-inning advantage.

After Fullerton got one back in its half of the inning, the
Bruins shot back with a three-run blast from Julie Adams in the
second. This was only the beginning for Adams, who finished the
afternoon 5-for-7, with seven RBI and three runs scored.

Two innings later, freshman Christie Ambrosi stroked her first
career home run, a grand slam, to shut the door on the Titans.

"That hit gave me a lot more confidence in myself. I really
needed that hit," said Ambrosi, who had only gone 2-for-11 up to
that point in the tournament.

Adams’ second three-run shot of the afternoon provided the final
margin in the opening-game rout. All told, only one starter failed
to score amid UCLA’s 14-hit attack.

"I guess we were just feeding off each other," Poulson said.
"This was it, we had to do it."

The Bruins were not done, as the Titans had one more opportunity
to snap UCLA’s streak of College World Series appearances. Brown
atoned for her loss in Sunday’s opener with a solo homer in the
first to give Fullerton its first lead of the day.

With the Bruins still down 1-0 in the fifth, Adams found herself
at the plate with the bases loaded. After drilling a pitch way
beyond the left-field wall but left of the foul pole, she settled
for a walk to force in the tying run. UCLA took the lead for good
when Poulson lifted a sacrifice fly to drive in Kelly Howard for a
2-1 advantage.

Two Titan errors opened the flood gates for a Bruin rally in the
sixth. A two-run triple by Ginny Mike-Mitchell put a cap on the
five-run outburst and gave the Bruins a 7-1 lead. Fullerton came
back with a solo homer in the seventh, but it was not enough to
change UCLA’s travel plans.

"We had to focus on the last four innings, and we came up with a
few key hits," co-head coach Sharron Backus said. "We got a lot of
kids post-season experience today. We had to work real hard, but we
didn’t give up."

Joining the Bruins in Columbus will be three Pac-10 rivals —
Arizona, California, and Washington. The other half of the
eight-team field will be composed of Michigan, Iowa, Southwestern
Louisiana, and Princeton. The double-elimination tournament will
begin Thursday at the future site of the Olympic softball
competition. Pairings will be announced this afternoon.

ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin

First baseman Alleah Poulson hit her first home run of the
season.

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