No. 7 UCLA softball overcomes early deficit to defeat Oregon State
By Amit Nainani
April 27, 2015 1:59 a.m.
With the way that UCLA softball has played against unranked opponents this season – winning 33 games and losing just one – a win against lower-tiered opponent may seem like a foregone conclusion. However, the Bruins were pushed to the limits by the Beavers during Sunday’s matchup, showing once again, that nothing is guaranteed.
No. 7 UCLA (40-8, 14-3 Pac-12) traveled to Corvallis, Ore., to take on the unranked Oregon State (25-22, 5-15 Pac-12) in a late-season conference matchup. The weekend portion of the series saw the Bruins outscore their Beaver counterparts 23-8 with a win on Saturday by the score of 12-2 and a win on Sunday by the score of 11-6.
Game two of the series saw the Bruins fall behind early, a position that they rarely find themselves in against unranked teams. Freshman pitcher Selina Ta’amilo was hit hard in the second inning and her replacement, senior pitcher Ally Carda, could not stop the bleeding until the Beavers had built a healthy 6-2 lead. After this inning, however, the Beavers would not add another run to the scoreboard as Carda settled into her all-too-familiar pitching groove and allowed the Bruin offense to get to work.
“In that inning, I credit Oregon State more than (anything) we did wrong. The girls were throwing strikes and they were battling, and Oregon State stepped up. Even when Ally came in, balls fell for them. It’s part of the game,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “I am very proud of how the girls fought back and how Ally was able to settle in and stop them. She allowed our offense to come through and fight back to get that ‘W.’”
The Bruin offense did not let an early deficit dampen their spirits and ended the game with nine unanswered runs, many via the long ball. Senior first baseman Stephany LaRosa hit her 11th home run of the year while sophomore shortstop Delaney Spaulding hit her team-leading 11th and 12th home-runs on the year, the first multi-home run game of her career. Sophomore outfielder Gabrielle Maurice’s home run in the fifth inning was the one that completed the comeback as it helped the Bruins reclaim the lead, 7-6. Maurice attributed the never-say-never attitude of the team with a motto that has been adopted this year.
“Our team follows this motto this year called ‘Leave your mark,’” Maurice said. “Every Bruin has an opportunity to leave their mark, literally. We have the opportunity to leave a hit, a bunt, score a run.”
With the postseason right around the corner, the team knows that it must play at a high level if it wants to bring a national title back to Westwood, but perfection is not required. As evidenced by Sunday’s game, even when operating from a deficit and going to the bullpen early, the Bruins are not down and out. They have a slight margin for error and this helps alleviate the pressure placed on the pitching staff and the team as a whole.
“(Games like Sunday’s) not only elevate the team’s confidence, but I think the pitcher’s (confidence) in general. They understand that they do not have to be perfect,” LaRosa said. “They can give up hits and they can give up runs, and know no matter what happens on defense that offense will step our game up and have their backs no matter what.”
