No. 1 UCLA softball hits home multiple victories at Desert Classic

UCLA softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez breaks each season down into five segments spelling out B-R-U-I-N.

“B” stands for building the team’s foundation and occurs in the fall, while “R” stands for respecting the program over break.

According to Inouye-Perez, the team is currently in the “U,” or unity phase, as it tries to come together and learn to play as a unit.

“It’s just really building a new chemistry and figuring out how this team works,” Inouye-Perez said. “I’ve got a lot to work away from this weekend on how we as a program in 2011 are better and a little bit more prepared for the next opportunity.”

After dominating their competition last weekend at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, the No. 1 Bruins (9-1) got off to a rocky start this weekend at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas.

On Friday, UCLA needed extra innings against Southern Illinois Edwardsville (3-6) before freshman catcher Alyssa Tiumalu hit a walk-off single down the middle to drive home freshman shortstop Kellie Fox and win the game for the Bruins 3-2.

“I knew it came down to me, and I was prepared. I was ready,” said Tiumalu, who had started just her second collegiate game. “I wasn’t trying to do a lot, I was just trying to get a base hit. It worked, and it felt great.”

Later Friday, the Bruins came out on the opposite side of a close contest, dropping their first game of the year to Arkansas (5-5) by a score of 4-3.

Inouye-Perez said that at this point in the season, the focus is on improvement, and a perfect record is not necessarily the most important goal.

“Losses and wins help us. We’re not playing to win a championship right now, so our win-loss record is irrelevant, and that’s exactly what I tell the team,” Inouye-Perez said. “Every game we play is an opportunity for us to learn how we’re going to get better, because our goal is to be the best at the end.”

The weekend provided an opportunity to learn how freshman pitcher Jessica Hall can help the Bruins get better. Hall pitched 22 innings over the three days and went 3-1 in the circle in that span.

After picking up the win against Utah (5-6) on Saturday morning, Hall pitched a two-hit shutout against Portland State later that night.

“All of my pitches were on, so I had everything to go to; I wasn’t relying on just one pitch,” Hall said of her performance against Portland State. “My defense had my back. I was throwing ground balls, so it made it easy on them and easy on me.”

The Bruins won that game 3-0 on the heels of redshirt junior center fielder Katie Schroeder, who hit two solo home runs.

On Sunday, Hall picked up the win against Utah State (3-7) as the Bruins’ offense finally came alive, resulting in a 13-3 win. Sophomore right fielder B.B. Bates led the Bruins in the batter’s box, going four-for-five in her first two-home run game of her career.

“Every game is a different game. Our game is about pitching, defense and timely hitting, and we did some great things this weekend,” Inouye-Perez said.

“We also fell short in other things, but overall I’m very proud of how they finished.”