No. 1 Bruins confident as they take on Huskies
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 12, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Sophomore shortstop
Natasha Watley fields the ball during a game
against UNLV earlier this season. The Bruins face Washington
next.
By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Reporter
You know you’re in a competitive league when a team with a
No. 13 ranking isn’t even impressive compared to the five
other conference teams that are in the top 10 in the country.
UCLA’s opponent this weekend, the Washington Huskies
(27-14, 3-3 Pac-10) rose to No. 13 this week after knocking off No.
2 Arizona 1-0 last week, despite losing to resurgent Arizona State
5-1 and 6-1.
Meanwhile, UCLA (40-3, 3-3) retained its No. 1 ranking despite
losing once each to ASU and Arizona. The Bruins’ saving grace
was their 3-0 victory Sunday to earn a split with the Wildcats.
The Bruins received 18 of 27 first-place votes to
Arizona’s seven with one each for Stanford and ASU.
But to keep that No. 1 ranking, the Bruins must take down the
Huskies this weekend, Friday and Saturday at 2 p.m. Washington is
led by freshman Tia Bollinger, who is 24-3 with a 0.85 ERA.
Offensively, four Huskies are above .300, with senior outfielder
Kelly Hauxhurst at .377.
“Bollinger is an excellent pitcher,” UCLA Head Coach
Sue Enquist said. “When she’s on the mound, her team
does good things.”
Washington’s head coach, Teresa Wilson, says her Huskies
are still learning the college game. She says that including 10
true freshmen, UW has 15 of 19 players who have never started a
college game.
On paper, the matchup looks pretty nice to the Bruins, who are
still licking their wounds after last weekend. Four Bruins who have
started all 43 games are over .400, with junior catcher Stacey
Nuveman leading the pack at .432. Three more are over .300.
The offense, however, has underproduced of late and has turned
usually sterling pitching performances into defeats.
“We’ve put a little more individual pressure on our
hitters,” Enquist said of her team’s practices in
preparation for the Husky matchup.
“Those two losses really put us in a tough
position,” UCLA sophomore second baseman Monique Mejia added.
“To come back on Sunday and get that win gave us momentum
going into this weekend.”
About one of the Bruins’ few weaknesses ““ though one
that has cost them in close games ““ Mejia said, “We
need to play perfect defense.”
What has gone well for the Bruins is their pitching, giving them
several options to counter Bollinger. Despite being accountable for
all three of UCLA’s losses, junior pitcher Amanda Freed is
still option one with her 16-3 record and 0.54 ERA, while freshman
Keira Goerl is 15-0 at 0.94. Should that duo hit some trouble,
seniors Courtney Dale (4-0, 0.83) and Stephanie Swenson (5-0, 1.54)
can contribute in relief.
Wilson knows her team is in for an uphill climb against
UCLA.
“They’ve got it all,” she said. “You
have to play flawlessly to go in and beat them. It’s a battle
with that team, as always.”
