Softball: Back for more

Having played teams that were basically strangers to them during
regional play, the UCLA softball team has now traveled halfway
across the country to see a host of schools they are all too
familiar with.

When the defending national champion Bruins open the
Women’s College World Series today in Oklahoma City against
Stanford, it will be their first match-up against a Pac-10 team in
postseason play.

But that’s not to say UCLA won’t meet up with any
other conference schools, as California and Washington will also be
participating in Oklahoma. In all, half of the eight teams in the
Women’s College World Series are from the Pac-10.

Although the second-seeded Bruins will be seeing some familiar
faces, they do not necessarily see this as something that will work
in their favor.

“The postseason and World Series are so much different
than conference play, anything can happen,” sophomore Caitlin
Benyi said. “It’s nice knowing who you’re playing
as far as type of hitters and pitchers they have, but it’s
not really anything that’s going to give us an
advantage.”

Conspicuously absent from the list of Pac-10 schools is
top-ranked Arizona, an upset victim at the hands of Oklahoma.

Although having the Wildcats knocked out of the postseason might
make things easier for the Bruins, UCLA would not have minded
getting the chance to eliminate Arizona themselves.

“I like it when Arizona is there; I like the
competition,” UCLA coach Sue Enquist said. “I think
they’re an incredible ball club.”

But Arizona or no Arizona, the Bruins are on fire right now.
They breezed through their regional bracket and are peaking at the
right time in all aspects of their game.

Even though UCLA started the preseason on a torrid pace, Enquist
said throughout the beginning of the season that her team was not
where she wanted it to be.

Now, however, the defense has improved by significant
proportions; senior ace Keira Goerl has been virtually untouchable,
and the offense is seeing production from the top to bottom of its
lineup.

“The mistakes that we made were being made early in the
season,” Enquist said. “So I always felt confident that
if the kids bought into learning the lessons along the way, we
would be able to recover and play some good softball. And
that’s what you’re seeing right now.”

Stanford, the Bruins’ first opponent, shut out UCLA 1-0 in
its first game of the season in Westwood. But after the Bruins had
started to pull their game together during the Pac-10 schedule,
they handled the Cardinals in Palo Alto last month, 6-2 and
7-1.

UCLA has fared well against most of the field, beating Michigan
in the preseason and taking two of three from California during the
conference schedule.

Washington, however, has given the Bruins fits all season. The
Huskies swept all three matches during the Pac-10 schedule.

But for the Bruins, it only gives them something more to
prove.

“It’s definitely motivation for the teams that have
beaten us, and we’ve seen all their best pitchers, so we have
an idea of what we need to do to be successful,” freshman
Lisa Dodd said.

The other teams in the double-elimination World Series are
Louisiana State and Florida State, the only two teams UCLA has not
played already.

Regardless of the opponent, anything short of a repeat
performance of last year’s championship run will be a letdown
for UCLA.

“With the season we’ve had, losing right now would
be a major disappointment,” Benyi said. “Any year you
don’t win a ring would be a disappointment.”

And as the Bruins showed last year, desire when it matters the
most will be the difference between leaving empty-handed and
leaving with a ring.

“I think that at this point, it’s more of a will to
win,” Dodd said. “The team that wants it the most is
probably going to come out on top. I think we are peaking, but more
than that, it’s just that we really want to win.”