Softball regresses as weekend progresses against top-ranked Oregon
Senior pitcher Ally Carda delivered a strong complete-game performance in UCLA’s 8-1 win over Oregon Friday, but struggled to maintain that high level of play for the remainder of the weekend, as the Bruins dropped the series 2-1 to the Ducks. (Keila Mayberry/Daily Bruin)
Softball
| No. 9 UCLA | 8 |
| No. 1 Oregon | 1 |
| No. 1 Oregon | 6 |
| No. 9 UCLA | 4 |
| No. 1 Oregon | 10 |
| No. 9 UCLA | 0 |
By Amit Nainani
April 6, 2015 12:21 a.m.
The softball season is a marathon, not a sprint, as there are 55 games spanning from opening day in February until the final day of the regular season in May. The team travels thousands of miles going to and coming back from away games and tournaments. There are ups and downs that must be faced and overcome if the ultimate goal, winning the Women’s College World Series, is to be met.
Winning the Women’s College World Series requires teams to be at their best, and to be the best you have to beat the best. No. 8 UCLA (31-8, 6-3 Pac-12) had a chance to prove that it belonged in the conversation as a legitimate title contender this past weekend, as the Bruins hosted the No. 1 Oregon Ducks (32-5, 10-2) for a three-game series.
The Bruins started off the weekend on a positive note with an 8-1 win over the Ducks, but they regressed as the weekend progressed. They were defeated 6-4 on Saturday and 10-0 on Sunday. Despite coming up short on the field, the Bruins’ spirit was not broken as assistant coach Kirk Walker maintained that the Bruins were still one of the most feared teams in college.
“Our team believes we are capable of beating anyone in the country. I think our team fully believes that and I don’t think that changed because of (this) series,” Walker said. “I think it actually strengthened (us) because of the series. … I think our team, and our athletes and our coaches all believe that we are a team to be reckoned with that can compete with anyone in the country.”
In the first game of the series on Friday night, the Bruins took a page out of the Ducks’ playbook and beat them at their own game, hitting two home runs en route to scoring eight. The first-inning home runs by senior pitcher Ally Carda and senior catcher Stephany LaRosa proved to be more than enough for Carda, who was also the starting pitcher in the game.
Carda stymied the Ducks’ potent offense as she pitched a complete game, allowing one run and striking out 14 batters.
Game two on Saturday afternoon saw Oregon jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning before Carda settled into a groove, not allowing another run during her 4.1 innings on the mound.
The Bruins answered back as they scored four runs in the bottom of the second despite only getting one hit, benefitting from the erratic nature of the Ducks’ pitching staff.
Oregon could not get much going off of Carda, but the Ducks’ fortune turned around when UCLA was forced to go to the bullpen from the fifth inning onward. The Ducks scored five runs off of freshman Johanna Grauer in the top of the seventh to reclaim the lead at 6-4 which ended up being the final score.
With less than 24 hours to recover from the previous evening’s late-inning downfall, the Bruins seemed to be suffering from a hangover as the Ducks controlled game three from the opening pitch onward.
UCLA only managed two hits and was shut out for the first time all season. The Ducks scored 10 runs, nine off Carda, who did not perform up to her own standards by her own admission, highlighted by two grand slams hit in the third and fourth innings.
“I did not have my ‘A’ game on the first day, and it just carried over into day two and three. I’m definitely not as strong as I am on day one,” Carda said. “I just did not catch myself soon enough to be able to get more mentally tough and mentally strong and things just capitalize on other things when you are playing a good team.”
With this weekend’s matchup against Oregon now in the books, UCLA has just rounded third and is coming down the home stretch of its 2015 season. The 2-1 series loss to the Ducks was a bit of a letdown for the Bruins, but junior outfielder Allexis Bennett believes that the Bruins are ready to bounce back for these upcoming tests as long as they play their type of game.
“Bruins got to play our game. Our game and stick to it the whole time, all seven innings,” Bennett said. “Don’t stop. Don’t waver. Never settle. Never quit. No mercy. We have to play Bruin softball. Relentless softball.”
UCLA takes on Cal State Fullerton Tuesday at Easton Stadium before resuming Pac-12 play against Stanford Friday.
