Alabama hands win to struggling Bruins

By Greg Lewis

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

OKLAHOMA CITY “”mdash; All the focus and the momentum UCLA built
up in the NCAA regionals disappeared Thursday afternoon against
Alabama.

Then, just as the Bruins were preparing for one of the biggest
upsets in the history of the College World Series, Alabama dropped
the ball, and the game, en route to a 4-1 defeat to the Bruins
(44-11) in Oklahoma City.

Up 1-0 with runners on second and third and two outs in the
fifth inning, Crimson Tide leftfielder Paula White dropped a
routine fly ball from UCLA’s Natasha Watley, scoring two runs
and virtually handing the game to the Bruins.

“I have no excuse,” an emotional White said after
the game. “I just missed the ball.”

The runs were even more painful for Alabama (65-13) as one of
the runners, shortstop Crissy Buck, had reached on an error,
slipping by the normally tight Crimson Tide defense.

“The pitcher let up after that,” UCLA second baseman
Lyndsey Klein said. “You could tell that she thought that she
had us up until then. (After the error) she wasn’t pitching
her “˜A’ game anymore.”

Bruin catcher Julie Marshall led off the next inning with a hard
single up the middle and Klein promptly hit a two-run home run to
put the Bruins up 4-1 and effectively seal the win.

“I let it get to me too much, said Alabama pitcher Shelley
Laird. “I just let it get to me.”

Marshall, with two singles, was the only player in the game to
record two hits. Klein hit her 10th homer of the year and moved
into third place on UCLA’s single season runs scored list
with 55.

“They cracked the door open for us, and we took
advantage,” UCLA head coach Sue Enquist said.

“I guess if you could end the game after four and
two-thirds innings, I would have done that today,” Alabama
head coach Patrick Murphy said.

The game was messy, characterized by poor defensive play on both
sides. Both Alabama and UCLA, usually solid teams, committed three
errors. Only two of the game’s five runs were earned.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t play UCLA
defense today,” Enquist said. “(Alabama) did what they
were supposed to. They jumped on us when we made mistakes
defensively.”

Alabama’s lone run came as a result of sloppy Bruin play
in the first inning when Alabama’s Suzanne Olcott bunted
leadoff hitter Kelly Kretschman over to second base. Klein,
covering first on the play, dropped the throw, putting runners on
first and third with no outs. Ginger Jones then sent Kretschman
home with a sacrifice fly.

Alabama then had its chance to close out UCLA and advance to the
second round of the World Series, but after the Bruins brought home
their first two runs, Murphy said she saw “a great
opportunity slip away.”

Amanda Freed (27-6) pitched an excellent game for the Bruins,
holding the Tide to just two hits in their first-ever trip to the
World Series.

“I’m glad we came in and got the first win out of
the way. The first game jitters are gone,” Freed said.

After Alabama saw that Freed was on top of her game, they knew
it would take solid defense to give them the win.

“We had played errorless defense all year,” Murphy
said. “That’s how we won games. We got ahead and held
the lead.”

Although UCLA got the win, it was hardly in the manner Enquist
desired. Instead of selecting good pitches and running the
basepaths effectively, the Bruins were flailing at Laird’s
riseball and fouling out when they did connect.

Freed, on the other hand, was highly efficient, something the
Bruins needed to have a chance at the win.

“I’m really proud of the way Amanda led us in the
circle today,” Enquist said.

Alabama only hit five balls out of the infield all day, none for
hits.

The Bruins may have been surprised by the Crimson Tide in this
game, since last year, with a virtually identical roster, Alabama
lost twice to UCLA, 1-0 in March and 7-0 in the NCAA Regionals.

The victory was the Bruins’ 13th consecutive in the
postseason and fifth straight in the opening round of the World
Series.