Fielding has been one of the Bruins’ strengths this year.

Heading into the weekend, they sat fourth in fielding percentage, with just 23 errors through 53 games.

But three errors – the most in a single game this season – cost them the first game of a series Friday.

“Tough day today. At the end of the day, we just didn’t show up,” said graduate student outfielder Jessica Clements. “We were trying to do some things and put balls in play, and we just didn’t execute. We weren’t on our A-game today.”

For its first loss in six games, No. 8 UCLA softball (47-8, 17-4 Big Ten) fell to Northwestern (28-17-1, 15-6) in an 8-0, six-inning run-rule defeat Friday at Easton Stadium. The Bruins garnered just three hits in contrast to the Wildcats’ 10.

Assistant coach Madilyn Nickles-Camarena said the Bruins can learn a lot from the contest.

“We’re going to face teams that will throw punches,” Nickles-Camarena said. “We definitely are learning how to respond, and we need to learn how to respond with a little bit of urgency, with grit, and staying focused on the things that are within our control.”

In the second inning, a miscommunication on a fly ball with two outs between freshmen infielder/utility Kaniya Bragg and outfielder Rylee Slimp caused a dropped ball, extending the inning.

And Wildcat utility Avery Garden seemed to make the opportunity count, sending junior Taylor Tinsley’s pitch flying out of Easton Stadium to put the Wildcats up by two. Infielder Grace Nieto followed Garden with a homer, putting the Bruins down by three early.

Junior infielder Jordan Woolery said the team tries to focus on the next play in difficult moments.

“Having everyone stay calm, believing in themselves. Especially as the season goes on, we’ve gone through a lot of adversity,” Woolery said. “Being able to come back from that, and it’s the next play, and even just working on getting the first out is what we focus on.”

Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez pulled Tinsley following the two home runs in favor of freshman pitcher/utility Addisen Fisher, who finished out the game.

UCLA fell further behind in the third inning. While not officially recognized as an error, another miscue between Slimp and Bragg saw the ball slip away as three Wildcat runners made their way to home base.

Northwestern tacked on another in the third inning and one final run in the sixth, enough for the run-rule win. Another Bruin error in the sixth inning, this time from the catcher attempting to catch a steal, allowed a Wildcat to advance to second base and eventually home base.

Sophomore pitcher/outfielder Kaitlyn Terry hit a double in the sixth inning and reached third on a sacrifice bunt – the furthest any Bruin got around the diamond Saturday afternoon. Woolery stepped up to the plate with an opportunity to cancel out the run-rule margin.

But a ground out by the Wildcats called the game.

“We have a mindset of ‘we need just one pitch,’” Woolery said. “It could be two outs, bottom of the seventh, one pitch left, and we still have an opportunity to win. So just being positive throughout it and that belief in one another is really important.”

The Bruins followed Friday’s performance with a 15-8 victory Saturday at Easton Stadium.

“It’s really easy to get caught up in outcome and get caught up in feeling down. It’s OK to have emotions like that – but as long as it doesn’t alter the way that we go into the next games and into the rest of the season,” Nickles-Camarena said. “We need to be able to look forward and move past this and not let it define us – because it doesn’t – and just remember and get back to work.”