Softball seeks repeat outcome against CSUN in NCAA Regional

The last time these two teams met, seven innings were not enough. Neither were eight. Nor nine.

On March 26, UCLA softball went on the road to face Cal State Northridge in a game that lasted 10 innings. The Bruins scored two unearned runs in the top of the 10th that put them ahead for good.

On Friday, the Bruins (45-10) will not be playing the role of visitor against the Matadors (41-15), and the game will not be a regular season nonconference match. Rather, it will be the first game of the NCAA Regional that will be hosted in UCLA’s Easton Stadium throughout the weekend. The regional also includes San Diego State (36-18) and perennial powerhouse Texas (37-15), which is making its 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

No. 7 seed UCLA aims to repeat the outcome that occurred on March 26 against unseeded CSUN. If that’s going to happen, the Bruins will have to go through the Matadors’ pitching duo of freshman Zoe Conley and senior Brianna Elder. The dynamic one-two punch have combined to produce 37 of the team’s 41 wins on the year while striking out a combined total of 319 batters. UCLA, which owns the No. 1-ranked offense in terms of batting average, must get into its groove early, which would not allow the CSUN pitchers to settle into a rhythm.

“The key to hitting is to be on time. For us, it’s being able to make sure you get down and have the ability to have clear vision to put a good strike on the ball,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “No matter what they throw, fast or slow, we are going to come out and be ready to be aggressive and get a good pitch in the zone (knowing) we have confidence in our two-strike approach.”

On the flip side of the diamond, UCLA will call upon senior pitcher Ally Carda, who was just recently named Pac-12 Player of the Year for the second straight season. Carda has been the ace of the pitching staff for the past two years and counting, and she said she will use her experience in the postseason to set the tone for the rest of the pitching staff and her teammates.

“I think this year my focus is just to go for it. To make every pitch the best pitch possible, to make every at bat the best at bat possible,” Carda said. “We’ve got nothing to lose – we have not been to (the Women’s College World Series) yet. So, just really go for it as a team and know that if I do not get it done, someone else will.”

With such a heavy burden placed on Carda’s shoulders, her fellow pitchers will likely need to step up in order to prevent Carda from being overworked. In last year’s NCAA Tournament, Carda and the Bruins faded in the final two games of the NCAA Super Regional, losing the series to the underdog Kentucky Wildcats. The loss prevented UCLA from reaching the Women’s College World Series for the fourth straight year – the longest drought in school history.

To prevent this from happening again, Carda said she has been monitoring her arm this week to prepare for a potentially long weekend in the NCAA Regional.

“As a pitcher, during the week I need to be smart with my arm. Keep my legs going, but my arm might need a little rest,” Carda said. “Definitely during the week, I will pay attention to that. But when it is game time, then it is go, go, go – a hundred percent all the time.”

One of the team members who will play a key role in easing the burden on Carda is freshman Johanna Grauer, who alternates as the team’s No. 2 pitcher with fellow freshman Selina Ta’amilo. Both Grauer and Ta’amilo are experiencing the postseason for the first time, which Grauer said actually plays to her advantage.

“I think that (not being at UCLA for last year’s upset) is definitely good,” Grauer said. “Obviously we have heard about it from the team, but we were not there to experience it, so we don’t have that in the back of our mind as we are going into the postseason. It’s just like a clean slate for us to go for it.”