Bruin Seniors Set To Close Out Home Season

Bruin Seniors Set To Close Out Home Season

April 29, 2003

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Following a one-day trip to Seattle on Wednesday, the Bruins will return to Easton Stadium to close out its home schedule for the 2003 season.

The weekend games will be the final games at Easton for UCLA's four seniors, Toria Auelua, Monique Mejia, Tairia Mims and Natasha Watley, because UCLA was not among the eight schools selected to host an NCAA Regional (list released on Monday). Saturday's game against Oregon State will be the first night game in the history of Easton Stadium, and will begin at 7 pm. A pre-game ceremony honoring UCLA's senior class will take place on Sunday.

UCLA Downs Cal, Stanford For Weekend Sweep
The Bruins opened their weekend schedule with a 10-0 run-rule victory over California that featured home runs by Tairia Mims, Claire Sua and Andrea Duran. Sua's fourth-inning shot was her 12th of the season, and marked her fourth straight game with a home run.

In Saturday's game against Stanford, Keira Goerl shut out the Cardinal, striking out seven and scattering six hits. After five and a half scoreless innings, Emily Zaplatosch drew a two-out walk and scored from first base on an RBI double from Toria Auelua to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead that would stand up for the victory. Sunday's game took a different path, as Stanford went up 1-0 in the top of the third inning before Caitlin Benyi drew an RBI walk to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning. In the fifth, the Cardinal took a 2-1 lead on a solo home run before Natasha Watley posted her seventh home run of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Two impressive defensive plays by the Bruin outfield kept the score knotted at two until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Watley clubbed her 8th home run of the year, a walk-off shot to center, for the 3-2 UCLA win.

UCLA vs. This Week's Opponents

No. 4/4 Washington-- The Bruins and Huskies will become the final Pac-10 group to compete their "travel partner" series this Wednesday in Seattle, as the Bruins took both games from the Huskies at Easton Stadium with a 5-2 win on April 18 and a 10-0 six-inning win on April 19. The Huskies are coached by Teresa Wilson, and are led by Kristen Rivera (.377 BA, 19 HR) with Tia Bollinger (22-6, 1.19 ERA) and Ashley Boek (17-3, 1.54 ERA) sharing duties in the circle.

No. 20/23 Oregon-- UCLA holds an all-time record of 52-8 against Oregon, including a split of the season series in Eugene on April 12 and 13. The Ducks took the Saturday game by a score of 5-4 before UCLA won Sunday's rain-delayed game by a 9-3 margin. Oregon is coached by Kathy Arendsen, and is led offensively by Andrea Vidlund (.340 BA, 9 HR) while Amy Harris (14-11, 1.45 ERA) leads the Ducks in the circle. No. RV/RV Oregon State-- The Bruins hold a 63-5 all-time record against the Beavers, including a 6-1 win in Corvallis on April 11. Oregon State is coached by Kirk Walker, and are led offensively by Brynnen Guthrie (.385 BA) and in the circle by Monica Hoffman (20-13, 1.97 ERA).

Next Week in Bruin Softball
UCLA concludes its regular season schedule next week with a trip to Arizona and Arizona State. The Bruins and Sun Devils will play a season-ending doubleheader on Saturday night, then UCLA will return to Los Angeles in anticipation of learning its postseason destination. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on May 11 at 7 pm Pacific Time, live on ESPNews.