Disappointing finale fails to dampen series win
SARAH MICHELLE LAHTI/daily bruin
The No. 5 Bruins prepare to greet freshman outfielder B. B. Bates who won the game with a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh in the Bruins’ 3-1 win over No. 13 Cal Saturday at Easton Stadium. The Bruins also won Friday’s game but fell Sunday afternoon to the Bears to finish with a 2-1 series victory.
By Vidur Malik
May 9, 2010 9:38 p.m.
In the books, this weekend’s series against Cal will show up as a 2-1 series victory for the UCLA softball team, but the final results do not do any justice to the thrilling games played at Easton Stadium.
The series got off to a good start for UCLA, with the No. 5 Bruins (38-10, 12-6 Pac-10) beating the No. 13 Golden Bears (38-17, 7-11) in dramatic fashion on Friday and UCLA freshman B.B. Bates winning the game with a walk-off home run Saturday.
Sunday, the Bruins put themselves in another dramatic late-game situation, but couldn’t come all the way back in their 4-2 loss, snapping their 11-game winning streak.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Bruins looked like they could come back to win for the third straight game. With the bases loaded, Bates scored off sophomore left fielder Andrea Harrison flyout. UCLA saw a deflating end to the inning, with the Bears picking off junior second baseman GiOnna DiSalvatore at second base for the final out.
Despite the disappointing finish Sunday, UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said her team gave themselves an opportunity to win every game this weekend.
“We’re not always going to be able to get the big, dramatic, walk-off, bottom-of-the-seventh home run, but you’ve got to put yourself in that position,” Inouye-Perez said. “And that’s where I say this team has been successful this weekend.”
After getting just that kind of play Saturday, the Bruins ended the series with a loss.
Sunday featured more excellent pitching by Cal freshman Jolene Henderson, who carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning after having her no-no broken in the seventh Saturday.
“She mixed her speeds extremely well,” Langenfeld said. “Being able to throw very hard, and then also throw her changeup, and not just throw it but throw it for strikes, where you have to kind of stay true to it was a great job by her.”
The Golden Bear hitters did their part, putting three early runs on the board off of junior Donna Kerr (17-6). After giving up two runs in the second, Kerr was taken out and replaced by senior right hander Megan Langenfeld. Langenfeld filled in well, giving up two hits and an earned run, while striking out one in five and a third innings.
In the bottom of the fifth, senior third baseman Julie Burney ended Henderson’s no-hitter with her 14th home run on the season. Burney said she had an idea of what Henderson was going to throw, and got what she was looking for.
“Sometimes you just can predict some pitches that are going to come,” Burney said. “Some weaknesses you know that you have, and if you overcome those, then you just have a feeling that she’s going to throw a certain pitch, and she did and it was the right timing.”
Though the Bruins couldn’t get a come-from-behind win Sunday, they were able to do so on Saturday.
In the bottom of the seventh, Burney recorded the Bruins’ first hit off of Henderson with a double. After senior catcher Kaila Shull drew a walk, Bates stepped up to the plate and hit the game-winning home run. Langenfeld, who got the victory Saturday, said the Bruins were confident they could get the win.
“Everyone had a belief that we were going to do it,” Langenfeld said. “We had amazing energy in the dugout, we felt like we knew we could get it done, and to have it come out and to have B.B. really put the runs up, great for her.”
Friday’s game set the tone for what was to come later. With a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth, DiSalvatore hit a two-run home run that proved to be the winning play, as the Bruins won 4-2. DiSalvatore said the team was able to improve their focus to get the win.
“At the start, there were these random lulls, but we did a really good job of picking the energy back up,” DiSalvatore said Friday. “Towards the end of the game, we flipped it, and we had a lot of energy in that inning we scored, and that was huge.”
Inouye-Perez said she is happy with the team’s recent strong play and the opportunities it creates for her players to deliver.
“Right now, I love the momentum, I love that we’re still figuring things out, and that creates an excitement about opportunities for anybody in the lineup,” Inouye-Perez said. “One through 19, everybody has to be prepared to be the one, and that makes it really exciting for this team right now.”
