Lead hitter sits out season
Junior outfielder Katie Schroeder will not return for the rest of this season and will apply for a medical redshirt, hoping to maintain two years of eligibility.
By Min Kang
May 10, 2010 10:45 p.m.
With just three games left in the regular season, the UCLA softball team learned Monday that it will have to play on without one of last year’s key contributors.
With just three games left in the regular season, the UCLA softball team learned Monday that it will have to play on without one of last year’s key contributors.
Out since a Feb. 19 home game against Cal State Northridge, Katie Schroeder will sit out the rest of the season with a sprained left calf.
The junior center fielder had recently been participating in practice in the hopes of returning before season’s end, but she will instead apply for a medical redshirt that will give her an additional year of eligibility.
Through seven games, Schroeder had 22 at bats, hitting .364 with a .481 on-base percentage.
Named to the First-Team All-American team last year, she started all 56 games in 2008-2009 and led the Bruins hitting .402 with 14 home runs, 33 walks, 55 runs scored, 19 stolen bases, a .684 slugging percentage and a .516 on base percentage.
On the other hand, the Bruins have been able to offset the loss of their leadoff hitter with the emergence of freshman center fielder B.B. Bates.
Through 48 games, Bates is batting .338 with 54 hits, 27 RBI, 13 walks and a team-leading six stolen bases.
The freshman has started in all 48 games, and in 26 of those games, has filled in for Schroeder at the top of the batting order.
Just this past Saturday, Bates hit a walk-off three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally UCLA past Cal 3-1.
The Bruins (38-10, 12-6 Pac-10) were 6-1 with Schroeder but have gone 42-9 so far without her and won 11 of the past 12 games.
The Bruins, currently second in the Pac-10, have just one series remaining this season, a weekend at Arizona, before the NCAA Regionals begin May 21.
Out since a Feb. 19 home game against Cal State Northridge, Katie Schroeder will sit out the rest of the season with a sprained left calf.
The junior center fielder had recently been participating in practice in the hopes of returning before season’s end, but she will instead apply for a medical redshirt that will give her an additional year of eligibility.
Through seven games, Schroeder had 22 at bats, hitting .364 with a .481 on-base percentage.
Named to the First-Team All-American team last year, she started all 56 games in 2008-2009 and led the Bruins hitting .402 with 14 home runs, 33 walks, 55 runs scored, 19 stolen bases, a .684 slugging percentage and a .516 on base percentage.
On the other hand, the Bruins have been able to offset the loss of their leadoff hitter with the emergence of freshman center fielder B.B. Bates.
Through 48 games, Bates is batting .338 with 54 hits, 27 RBI, 13 walks and a team-leading six stolen bases.
The freshman has started in all 48 games, and in 26 of those games, has filled in for Schroeder at the top of the batting order.
Just this past Saturday, Bates hit a walk-off three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally UCLA past Cal 3-1.
The Bruins (38-10, 12-6 Pac-10) were 6-1 with Schroeder but have gone 42-9 so far without her and won 11 of the past 12 games.
The Bruins, currently second in the Pac-10, have just one series remaining this season, a weekend at Arizona, before the NCAA Regionals begin May 21.
