CLOSE-UP : Ford Stays Hungry on Mound at UCLA

Samantha Ford went to UCLA from Hart High and found out that the quality of opposing hitters wasn’t the only thing that would be different in college.

Ford, who had a 71-13 record in four years with 1,124 strikeouts in 607 innings at Hart, said she didn’t enjoy her first few weeks in Westwood.

“I was just homesick in the beginning,” Ford said. “It was hard to leave all my good friends behind.”

It also took a while for Ford to get used to the campus meal plan.

“The biggest adjustment for me was eating in the dorms,” she said. “I have odd eating habits. I eat whenever I’m hungry and sometimes the cafeteria didn’t always have what I wanted. I lost 12 pounds during the first quarter.”

One thing Ford didn’t lose is her desire to pitch.

She suffered an arm injury in 1985 that limited her to just two regular-season games in her senior season. Worse, she had her appendix removed in the summer and there were complications after the surgery.

“I didn’t get to pitch until the second week of August,” Ford said. “This year was kind of a rebuilding year. I pitched in eight games the previous year, so it was a get-yourself-back-on-track season.”

In 24 games this season, Ford has a 13-9 record and an 0.62 earned-run average. She has 166 strikeouts in 157 innings. But the two-time defending NCAA champion Bruins, who are 24-15 overall, aren’t expected to make the playoffs.

“I think we’ve learned not to take things for granted,” Ford said. “Berths in the regional playoffs aren’t an automatic thing just because we’re at UCLA.

“I’m just the kind of person who doesn’t like to lose and next year we’re going to try harder to be successful. A great deal of people have pride in UCLA as a school. It’s like we let the team and the university down.”