UCLA Eliminates Northridge From Softball Regional

Coach Janet Sherman of Cal State Northridge smiled before commenting after UCLA thumped the Matadors, 9-0, Friday in the NCAA Division I softball regional.

Perhaps she knew it would sound a bit funny, given the circumstances.

“I’m very proud of the way my team played,” Sherman said. “We had a really good game going until the sixth inning. I thought we were right there. [We] played with a lot of heart.”

Although the Matadors had only one hit against UCLA, Sherman was savoring Northridge’s 3-1 victory over Fresno State hours earlier.

The Matadors would have needed nothing short of a miracle to defeat UCLA.

Bruin ace Amanda Freed (18-3) returned to the circle after a one-month layoff to rehabilitate an injured forearm and allowed one hit and struck out seven in five innings. She faced one batter over the minimum on 49 pitches, including 38 strikes.

The Bruins (57-5), who entered the game batting .340, had outscored Northridge, 39-1, in four meetings this season. It will take a great effort to upset UCLA in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.

UCLA collected seven hits through five innings, but had only a 1-0 lead.

“We got in the middle [innings] and it seemed like we couldn’t punch anything across,” Coach Sue Enquist said.

But when UCLA got going, Sarah Farnworth (24-16), who threw more than 225 pitches in two games Friday, could do little to stop it.

A two-run single by Stephanie Ramos highlighted a three-run sixth.

In the seventh, the Bruins scored two runs before Stacey Nuveman launched her 18th home run, a three-run shot, 15 feet over a 28-foot scoreboard in left field to cap the scoring.

Northridge did some launching of its own earlier against Fresno State (38-19).

The Matadors trailed, 1-0, after the first inning but tied it in the fourth on Meaghan Finnerty’s run-scoring single.

The go-ahead run was delivered by Christen Bedwell with a solo home run in the fifth.

Two innings later, pinch-hitter Summer Richardson ripped a line-drive homer over the center-field fence.

“That ball was crushed,” Sherman said.

Farnworth allowed six hits against Fresno State and had two of the Matadors’ eight hits. She was the only Matador to get a hit, or to reach base against the Bruins.

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Track and Field: The Cal State Northridge men’s team is tied for second place in the Big Sky Conference championships. D12