UCLA softball defeats Stanford in two of three games
After allowing seven runs in UCLA’s 12-9 loss to Stanford Friday, junior pitcher Ally Carda allowed just one run in the next two games, both wins. (Agnijita Kumar/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Matt Joye
May 5, 2014 1:29 a.m.
UCLA junior pitcher Ally Carda is one of 25 college softball players nominated for the 2014 national player of the year award. This weekend against Stanford, Carda showed why she should be considered a leading candidate.
After Carda was credited with the pitching loss in Friday’s game, she bounced back with both her arm and her bat to lead the Bruins to victories in each of the next two games of the series.
She delivered pivotal home runs on both Saturday and Sunday, while also capturing two pitching victories as No. 2 UCLA (46-5, 17-4 Pac-12) won two out of three against Stanford (29-23, 4-17).
“(Stanford) came out really aggressive (on Friday), which we didn’t really expect,” Carda said after Saturday’s game. “We just came out with a better game plan (on Saturday) and everyone was on the same page with it.”
Stanford came out swinging hard from the opening pitch, building an 8-3 lead through the first two innings of Friday’s game. UCLA scored five runs in the seventh, but Stanford held on to win 12-9.
“Pitchers, it’s difficult (for them) to be perfect every single game,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez.
Although Carda hasn’t been perfect this season, she has been pretty close. Her loss against Stanford on Friday was only her third all season.
After the loss on Friday, Carda and UCLA turned the tables on Stanford. In Saturday’s game, the Bruins came out as the aggressors, swinging hard from the start. Carda opened up the scoring onslaught with a three-run home run in the second inning, and the Bruins never looked back after that, winning 9-0 in five innings by way of the mercy rule.
“It’s actually good to lose once in a while because it brings us back down to earth and, you know what, hey, we just work harder,” said freshman outfielder Jelly Felix.
On Sunday, the rampant scoring of the first two games was toned down a bit, as Stanford and UCLA entered the sixth inning tied at 2-2.
After Carda shut down Stanford’s bats in the top of the sixth inning, she put herself in position for the victory in the bottom of the sixth.
With two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the sixth, Carda launched a two-run home run that put the Bruins in front 4-2. Then, Carda would finish off the game by holding Stanford scoreless in the top of the seventh.
Carda and the Bruins now have just three games to improve their positions in the player of the year race and Pac-12 standings, respectively. UCLA is 1.5 games behind the Pac-12 leader, No. 1 Oregon, as it heads into a three-game series at No. 3 Arizona State on Thursday.
