Maumausolo, CSUN Stun UCLA in Softball Split

So what if it was the only hit Cal State Northridge’s Scia Maumausolo had all day?

It was one of the biggest hits any Northridge softball player has had since the program moved to Division I in 1991.

Maumausolo’s two-run, two-out double in the seventh inning lifted the visiting Matadors to a 2-1 victory Thursday over top-ranked UCLA in the Bruins’ opener. UCLA bounced back in the second game, pounding out 11 hits en route to a 7-2 victory in a six-inning contest that was called because of darkness.

Splitting a nonconference doubleheader with the defending national champion Bruins, who lost only twice in 56 games last season, perhaps was as much as No. 14-ranked Northridge could hope for. The Matadors had previously defeated UCLA only once (1984) in 13 meetings.

But Maumausolo, a shy freshman from Mt. Carmel High in San Diego, didn’t know about any of that and didn’t seem to care much, either, when told of UCLA’s series dominance.

“I’m a freshman, so I haven’t really been into names or reputations,” she said.

It was Maumausolo’s only hit in seven at-bats, but it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Northridge was trailing, 1-0, with two out in the seventh when Maumausolo stepped to the plate with runners at first and second. She ripped an inside fastball to the left-field fence, chasing home Jen Fleming (three for four) and pinch-runner Shelby Wilcox.

Northridge (3-1) left 10 runners on base in the first game, six in scoring position. Getting that many runners on against UCLA pitcher Heather Compton (0-1), an All-American, would have been victory enough, Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson said.

“It’s a tremendous boost to the program, but more than that, as far as I’m concerned, it shows the people making the rankings up that we’re for real,” Torgeson said.

Sophomore right-hander Kathy Blake (2-0), who gave up six hits, gave up a run in the first inning on consecutive doubles by Lisa Fernandez and Jennifer Brundage.

The Bruins came out tough in the second game, pounding five hits in the first two innings and chasing right-hander Amy Windmiller (1-1).

Big Matador smiles abounded after the split. Fleming, a junior center fielder who went four for seven, seemed to sum it up best: “To tell you the truth, I didn’t even care that we lost the second game. I don’t even remember the second game.”