Bruins on fire as season blasts off

  NICOLE MILLER/ Daily Bruin The UCLA softball team has
begun well, winning their first five games.

By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Contributor

To say that Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (1-3), CSU Northridge (2-2)
and San Jose State (1-4) were overmatched would be an
understatement. UCLA (5-0) held its opponents to two runs and 15
hits over 30 innings and five games.

If that weren’t enough for victory, the Bruin offense put
on an exhibition, scoring 43 runs on 53 hits through the five
games. UCLA also won four of the five games on shutouts, giving up
the only two runs to Cal Poly on Sunday. Just to be on the safe
side, the Bruins put up 10 runs in that game. UCLA also befuddled
their opponents’ defenses, as opponents combined for 12
errors.

“It was definitely a good weekend for us. We scored lots
of runs, got offensive work going. Our defense was solid,”
junior Stacey Nuveman said.

If their alarm clocks didn’t wake the Northridge Matadors
for the 8 a.m. start time Sunday, the ping of the Bruin bats
certainly did the job. UCLA scored seven runs on 12 hits as junior
pitcher Amanda Freed went the distance and scored her second
victory of the tournament.

Northridge mustered only three hits off of her in the shutout.
Freshman Claire Sua provided the needed offense for the Bruins that
day with three RBIs on two hits, including a home run. Sophomore
Natasha Watley had two RBIs and two hits.

In what was unintentionally the final game of the day for UCLA,
the Bruins defeated Cal Poly 10-2. UCLA had 10 hits in the game,
including home runs by Nuveman and sophomore Tairia Mims. Senior
Stephanie Swenson pitched all six innings and got the win. The
Mustangs committed four errors on the day, while putting up six
hits.

The Bruins were scheduled to play host San Jose State for their
sixth and final game of the tournament, but time constraints would
not allow them to complete an official game.

The day before, the Bruins opened the day with an 8-0 win over
the host Spartans. Behind Freed, who went all five innings, and the
Bruins limited San Jose State to two hits in the game while putting
up nine of their own. Freed helped her cause with two RBIs, while
Nuveman and freshman Stephanie Ramos each had two as well.

In the second game, UCLA pounded Northridge 13-0. Freed, the
centerfielder this time, put up four RBIs, while Mims contributed
two. Swenson picked up the win by going all six innings and
limiting the Matadors to two hits. Northridge contributed to its
own defeat by committing three errors. Six Bruins had at least two
hits in the game.

In the final game on Saturday, UCLA shut out Cal Poly 5-0. The
highlight of the game was freshman pitcher Keira Goerl winning her
first start as a Bruin by setting down the first 15 batters she
faced. Her only blemishes were two singles in the sixth inning
before retiring the side in the seventh.

Goerl and Swenson were called into action because senior
Courtney Dale, usually UCLA’s No. 2 starter behind Freed,
stayed home in Westwood battling illness. Fortunately, her
teammates filled in more than adequately.

“It was a really good start for our season. Everybody
played a part producing, freshmen through seniors. It gives us a
lot of good momentum going into Wednesday (against
Fullerton),” Nuveman said.