Team dominates game despite some mistakes
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 14, 2001 9:00 p.m.
UCLA 7 Long Beach State 0
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Contributor
Plagued by missed signals, eight runners left on base, and bad
calls from umpires, the No. 1 UCLA softball team proved they have
the ability to dominate even when everything is not going
right.
The Bruins (10-0) kept constant pressure on No. 22 Long Beach
State (4-5), scattering nine hits and accumulating seven walks on
their way to a commanding 7-0 win in the first game of the
scheduled doubleheader. The second game was called after three
innings due to darkness.
“We’re just trying to put the pressure on, be
aggressive at the plate and just hit the ball hard,” said
UCLA sophomore outfielder/infielder Tairia Mims, who opened up the
scoring for the Bruins with a two-run homer to center field in the
first inning. “Easier to keep them down if you always have
pressure on them.”
UCLA junior pitcher/outfielder Amanda Freed pitched five
masterful innings, allowing only four hits and striking out eight.
Except for a rough stretch in the third inning, Freed kept the 49er
hitters off-balance with her rising fastball and wicked change-up,
culminating her pitching day by striking out the side in the fifth
inning.
Leading off the second inning, Bruin senior outfielder Lupe
Brambila extended the lead to 3-0 with her first home run of the
season, a textbook shot the other way over the right field wall.
Back-to-back doubles by senior pitcher/outfielder Courtney Dale and
freshman first baseman Claire Sua gave UCLA a 4-0 advantage.
Finally, in the sixth inning the floodgates opened as the Bruins
scored three runs on three hits and one walk.
“I definitely didn’t have my best stuff,” 49er
senior pitcher Traci Hensel said.
Both teams squandered several offensive opportunities, with UCLA
leaving the bases loaded in the first inning and two runners
stranded in the third. In the fifth, freshman outfielder Stephanie
Ramos missed a signal and Sua was easily thrown out attempting to
steal on what was supposed to be a hit-and-run.
“We missed a signal or two,” UCLA head coach Sue
Enquist said.
LBSU also left the bases loaded in the third inning, hitting
balls directly to sophomore infielder Toria Auelua and junior
shortstop Natasha Watley to end the threat.
Then in the sixth inning, Dale entered the game to pitch and
allowed two hits to open the inning. The umpires made a
controversial non-call when 49er sophomore outfielder Carissa
Reiswig appeared to interfere with Watley’s charge to a weak
grounder. Watley was charged with an error and LBSU loaded the
bases. Enquist could be heard arguing with the umpires from a
distance.
“It’s nice that (the coaches) are always there to
back you up,” Mims said. After nearly a 10-minute delay, Dale
got two quick outs and anti-climactically ended the 49ers’
last threat.
