Softball redeems itself with a road sweep at OSU
GiOnna DiSalvatore led the Bruins to a 10-6 victory over the Beavers Sunday.
By Chris Chen
April 18, 2010 9:17 p.m.
The UCLA softball team came into this weekend’s games against Oregon State with much to prove, and with the direction of its season still very much up in the air.
Seemingly stuck in a cloud of injury and inconsistency, the Bruins needed a jolt of lightning ““ a perfect storm to regain their footing in Pac-10 play.
First the numbers: a five-game losing streak where the team totaled only 11 runs.
The Bruins scored 11 points or more in a single game seven times this season, all of them victories.
Friday proved to be no anomaly to their earlier trend, as the motivated and determined No. 7 Bruins (30-9, 4-5 Pac-10) routed the Beavers (21-21, 2-7) 12-0 in five innings.
In a six-run first inning, the Bruins patiently tacked on one run at a time after loading the bases.
UCLA added five more in the second. After loading the bases yet again, senior Kaila Shull’s single made it 7-0. Freshman Charlotte Dolan followed with a walk that made it 8-0.
One out later, junior GiOnna DiSalvatore singled in a couple more runs, and junior Monica Harrison capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly.
“We were just more disciplined up at the plate,” DiSalvatore said. “We were swinging at strikes, which helped a lot. We also forced a lot of walks this weekend, so we were really seeing the ball well and being patient up at the plate.”
Senior Julie Burney made it 12-0 in the third after hitting her 10th home run of the season, and the duo of junior Donna Kerr (15-5) and senior Megan Langenfeld (4-1) retired the final 12 batters.
On Saturday, the Bruins would settle for four runs, all scored in the fourth inning, which was enough for a 4-2 victory.
UCLA had trouble getting the ball out of the infield until sophomore Dani Yudin led off the fourth with double to right.
Burney then followed with her team-leading 11th home run of the year, making it 2-0. Two outs later, freshman B.B. Bates singled to left and DiSalvatore hit her fourth homer of the year to right which gave junior Whitney Baker (1-1) not only the run support she needed, but also her first victory of the season.
“The defense was there the whole time behind me so it allowed me to really get at hitters,” Baker said. “The offense also played its part and allowed the pitchers to work more comfortably.”
The Beavers would make a last gasp, scoring two runs in the seventh against freshman pitcher Destiny Rodino. However, Rodino would leave runners stranded on first and second after striking out the final batter.
The win gave Bruin softball program its 1,500th victory. But the gaudy number does not really mean much to this team, which remains focused on the end objective.
“We are on a mission to the best at the end,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “All these games are just an opportunity for us to learn about different parts of the game. We can challenge ourselves on what we need to work on. We are focusing on using the Pac-10 as a great opportunity to go for (the championship).”
There would be no letdown on Sunday. Though the Beavers were able to pile on four runs in the third to take a 4-2 lead, the Bruins were comfortable in the batter’s box, taking pitches, and eventually working their way around the basepaths for seven runs, giving them a lead that they did not relinquish en route to a 10-6 victory.
