UCLA Plays New Role in Softball

UCLA isn’t at its usual perch atop college softball, and a third consecutive NCAA championship to add to a record 10 titles would be an unexpected achievement.

So it goes with a team that has only one senior -- who has two career hits and serves mostly as the bullpen catcher.

But the national title race is wide open this season and the Bruins still intend on being a factor as they play host to Loyola Marymount in the first round of a four-team NCAA regional Friday.

UCLA (30-16) plays the Lions (34-18), who are making their first appearance in a regional, at 2:30 p.m. Cal State Fullerton (28-19) plays Nevada Las Vegas (43-17) in the opening game at noon.

The Bruins have only three juniors among their regular starters -- catcher Emily Zaplatosch, second baseman Caitlin Benyi and third baseman Andrea Duran -- and the result has been a season of highs and lows.

The lowest of the lows were two four-game losing streaks in Pacific 10 Conference play. The high: UCLA won five of its last six games to finish 11-10 in the nation’s best league.

“It’s certainly been a journey,” Coach Sue Enquist said. “I certainly value all experience they’ve attained throughout the year. They are very seasoned at this point in time.”

UCLA has relied on Anjelica Selden, a freshman from Vacaville, Calif., who has 346 strikeouts and needs 14 more to pass DeeDee Weiman to establish the school’s season record.

“No pitcher in the country has more pressure coming into a collegiate program than one coming into UCLA,” Enquist said. “The history of the pitchers that are in this program and the standard that is set.

“I can’t think of a pitcher that was asked to lead as much as [Anjelica] was this year.”

Long Beach State (39-14) got a difficult draw for being the Big West Conference champion. The 49ers play host to Fresno State (41-10) today in a regional where California, seeded No. 2 nationally, is seeded No. 1.

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When it comes to the NCAA women’s tennis championships, USC and UCLA can’t seem to avoid each other. The rivals, who have split two matches this season, will play in the round of 16 for the second consecutive year and third in the last four today at Athens, Ga.

USC (18-3) has been powered by freshmen Nicole Leimbach and Lindsey Nelson. UCLA (17-5) is led by the doubles team of sophomore Daniela Bercek and freshman Riza Zalameda.

The men’s tournament resumes Saturday when UCLA (23-3) plays Tennessee (16-8) and Pepperdine (23-2) plays Duke (20-5) at College Station, Texas.