UCLA can’t defend title as Huskies advance to finals

Tuesday, May 28, 1996

Errors costly for Bruins as they exit World Series with
semi-final loss to WashingtonBy Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Contributor

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Who’s to say you can’t teach an old Dawg new
tricks? The Washington Huskies certainly learn quickly.

Competing in intercollegiate sports for nearly a century, only
recently did the University of Washington pick up softball.

And just four years after stepping onto the softball diamond,
the Huskies knocked off UCLA ­ the defending national champion
­ 8-2 in the semifinals of the College World Series at Golden
Park.

Having lost earlier in the tournament to Arizona, the Bruins
were in need of two victories over the Huskies to advance to
Monday’s championship game. With neither team holding an
overwhelming advantage over the other (UCLA won two of three in the
regular season), the Bruins were counting on the experience factor
to tip the scales.

After all, UCLA won the national title a year ago and has not
missed the World Series in a decade. The Huskies on the other hand
start eight upperclassmen, but were rookies in postseason play,
making their first-ever appearance at the national
championships.

But the roles were reversed Sunday. Washington played nearly
flawless softball, while the Bruins played perhaps the worst game
of the entire season.

Everything that could go wrong for the Bruins did. Inaccurate
throws, throws to wrong bases, balls going between the fielders’
legs, wild pitches, bad baserunning and the inability to move
runners over all contributed to the Bruins’ dismissal from the
tournament.

"I would have just loved to be a part of the game where both
teams played their best," UCLA co-head coach Sue Enquist said. "We
cracked a little bit defensively ­ but I am extremely proud of
the way we battled back today, we just fell short."

Although able to overcome similar mistakes earlier in the
season, it isn’t quite so easy when the opponent is the top-ranked
team in country.

After UCLA (47-11) tied the game at two with a two-run home run
by Kim Wuest in the bottom of the fourth, it appeared as if the
momentum had shifted the Bruins’ way. But not for long.

The second Husky batter in the following inning, first-team
All-American Sara Pickering, hit a towering shot over the left
field fence giving Washington a 3-2 lead. And then the wheels came
off.

The homer was followed by a bad-hop single and a line drive up
the middle. A throwing error loaded the bases and a base-clearing
double gave Washington (59-8) an insurmountable lead. But they
weren’t done.

Another base hit and an error brought in two more runs and when
the Bruins finally recorded the third out and itemized the damage,
they found themselves down 8-2 and out.

While UCLA had built its season around comebacks, this was too
much to overcome, especially the way the Bruin bats performed over
the weekend. Scoring only seven runs during the four-game stretch,
a season-low, the second-ranked batting team in the nation never
got on track to come up with the clutch hit when they needed
it.

Hitting .252 throughout the tournament (compared to a season
average .356) and leaving 27 runners stranded led to the Bruins
being outscored in the Series for the first time in the program’s
history, 14-7.

"We weren’t aggressive when we needed to be, and we weren’t
smart when we needed to be," Enquist said after the Friday’s 4-0
loss to Arizona in the second round.

However, much of the blame has to be passed on to the opposing
pitchers, all four of which are All-Americans.

After defeating Michigan 2-0 in the first round, the Bruins were
defeated by arch-rival Arizona for the fifth consecutive time this
season behind the five-hit shutout performance of second-team
All-American Carrie Dolan.

Despite managing only six hits off first-teamer Cheryl Longeway,
the Bruins were able to take advantage of three unearned runs to
dispense of fourth-seeded Southwestern Louisiana, 3-2, setting up
the match-up with Washington and yet another first-teamer, Heather
Meyer (25-3).

Perhaps it was the heat, with temperatures in the 100s
accompanied by warnings from the public-address announcer to drink
a quart of liquids every hour.

"The heat is a lot different than we are used to, but everyone
has to go through it, so we can’t let it affect us," junior pitcher
B’Ann Burns said. Burns pitched all four games for UCLA and, at
times, single-handedly kept the Bruins alive.

Whatever the reason, UCLA simply did not hit the ball well, and
that is the primary reason why it failed to make the championship
game for only the third time in 14 World Series appearances.

"It’s like a drowning time right now," Wuest said. "We’ve been
through a lot, it’s so sad to see it end. It’s real hard to take
knowing what we are capable of doing and how we came out."

Because of the winning tradition at UCLA, ending the season in
such a way may seem disappointing. But many were surprised UCLA
even made it this far. Losing key players such as Jennifer
Brundage, Jenny Brewster and Tanya Harding from a year ago, as well
as dealing with the on-going allegations of NCAA violations, the
players battled back from an opening-round loss in the NCAA
Regionals to finish third nationally.

"It is important that we recognize that we need to keep this in
perspective," Enquist said. "The players think they have failed,
but they haven’t. They’ve had a lot to carry on their backs this
season and they have done a great job both inside and outside of
the white lines."

PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

Kim Wuest’s two-run home run was the only Bruin offensive output
against Washington.