Squad makes Lady Chants say “˜uncle’

EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Sophomore Natasha Watley
gets on base against Costal Carolina in the first round of the
NCAAs. NCAA Regionals UCLA 8 Coastal Carolina
0

By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Reporter

The top-seeded UCLA Bruins (56-5) put on a clinic at Easton
Stadium Thursday, and although they charged no fee, it came at the
expense of the sixth-seeded Coastal Carolina Lady Chanticleers
(27-22).

UCLA moved on to day two of NCAA Regional play with an 8-0
run-rule win over the Lady Chants in a game marked by explosive
hitting and suffocating pitching by the Bruins.

In the first inning, sophomore Natasha Watley opened the scoring
when CCU junior Stephanie Belden threw a wild pitch, allowing
Watley to score from third. After walks to junior Stacey Nuveman
and freshman Claire Sua, senior Courtney Dale hit a three-run home
run.

The following inning, the Bruin fireworks continued. Watley
singled and sophomore Tairia Mims brought her home with a towering
home run to right field. Sua added a solo shot, putting UCLA up
7-0. In the fourth inning, UCLA put the game into the mercy-rule
range when freshman Stephanie Ramos scored on an error by CCU
sophomore shortstop Kelli Julg.

“They had a very good offense and we did everything we
could to pitch around them and sometimes the ball didn’t go
where it needed to go,” Belden said.

The difference between the starting pitchers was so clear that
it afforded Dale three innings of tune-up work after the Bruins
built the seven-run lead. After freshman pitcher Keira
Goerl’s two perfect innings, Dale allowed CCU’s only
hit of the game, a double by junior Jennifer Schmidt in the third
inning.

“I was pleased that Keira settled in very quickly,”
UCLA head coach Sue Enquist said. “Anytime you have a
freshman in the circle, every new situation is going to test her.
Once we settled in and got some runs, it was a good opportunity for
Courtney to come in and get some work.”

Belden allowed nine hits and four walks, striking out only one.
All eight runs were earned, despite CCU’s two errors. The
Bruins, meanwhile, went error-free.

UCLA’s game was the most lopsided of the day. In the first
game of the quadruple-header, fifth-seeded Wisconsin upset
second-seeded Fresno State 3-1. That was followed by a 2-0 win for
fourth-seeded San Diego State over third-seeded Cal State
Northridge. In the last game of the afternoon, Fresno State sent
Coastal Carolina home with a 6-4 defeat of the Chants.

Today’s first game between Fresno State and CSUN at 10
a.m. will determine UCLA’s next opponent. The Bruins play the
winner of that game at 3 p.m. In between those two games is the
Wisconsin-SDSU matchup at 12:30 p.m..

Saturday’s action will start at 10 a.m. only if the Bruins
lose to the Fresno State-CSUN winner. If UCLA wins its Friday game,
there will only be a doubleheader Saturday. The first game would
start at 12:30 p.m. and would put UCLA against the Wisconsin-SDSU
winner. If UCLA loses today’s game, it will face the loser of
the Wisconsin-SDSU game in the consolation bracket. The day will
conclude with the last consolation game, and any of the teams still
playing could be involved.

Sunday’s title game starts at 12:30 p.m. If the losing
team in that game has only one loss, a rematch will take place at 3
p.m.

After having faced both Fresno State and UCLA in the same day,
CCU Head Coach Jess Dannelly was in a position to compare the two.
He said that UCLA’s 8-2 victory over Fresno on March 11 was
an indication of how the possible matchup would play out.

“There’s the comparison right there. It just seems
like this is a year when UCLA is a step ahead.”