UCLA’s Freed Makes Rare Change

She doesn’t have an overpowering fastball or imposing size, yet UCLA pitcher Amanda Freed dominates college softball hitters.

She hasn’t always been considered the ace of the UCLA staff, but Freed has won enough games--more than Bruin legends such as Lisa Fernandez, Debbie Doom and Lisa Longaker--to become the school’s all-time leader.

Her secret: One pitch, the changeup. A hard-to-hit softball equivalent of Trevor Hoffman’s devastating pitch in baseball.

“Amanda has left her name in softball as one of the greatest changeup pitchers to ever be in the circle,” UCLA Coach Sue Enquist said. “It’s fun to watch teams guess change. And then you see them swing late [at a fastball] because they’re guessing change or they swing way too early.”

The pitch is so hard to figure that even Freed can’t describe how she gets the ball to dive sharply as it nears home plate.

“It just comes out the back of my hand,” she said. “I’ve never been able to explain it. It’s like I’m throwing it with my pinkie.”

Freed is an indispensable part of a team that is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Women’s College World Series. Top-seeded UCLA, the leader in NCAA titles with eight, opens the double-elimination tournament in Oklahoma City today against eighth-seeded Florida State.

This year, the senior is 21-3 with an 0.86 earned-run average, striking out 168 batters in 1621/3 innings.

In the NCAA regional at Columbia, S.C., Freed beat Liberty, 3-0, for her 97th victory, passing B’Ann Burns, who had 96 from 1994-97. Freed started the season fourth, overtaking Longaker and Fernandez on the way to Burns.

“I didn’t even know it was within reach until it was announced over the speaker one day [at a home game],” Freed said. “Looking back, it’s an honor to set the record with the great pitchers that have played at UCLA.”

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the 5-foot-8 Freed is her athleticism. A former national player of the year at Garden Grove Pacifica High, she has started for four years in center field when not pitching for the Bruins, hitting over .300 each season. She is tied with Yvonne Gutierrez for second place in hits with 261.

“Her value to us is her versatility,” Enquist said. “She’s in the No. 2 spot, she’s so quick in the outfield. Another trait that is so impressive is she is an incredible fielding pitcher.”

Freed always has been there for the Bruins. She was there to lean on when former star pitcher Courtney Dale battled through injuries. She remains an essential cog in the UCLA machine even though sophomore Keira Goerl has taken over as the lead pitcher.

What Freed wants is another NCAA championship. She is one of five players left from the last Bruin team to win the title, in 1999, and she wants a chance to redeem herself for last year’s national title game. Her only mistake was allowing a home run to Arizona’s Lindsey Collins in the Wildcats’ 1-0 victory.

“I would love to be on the mound on Monday, but then if Keira doesn’t feel the same way, I’d be worried,” Freed said. “Whoever gets the job done is all I care about. I just want us to win the title.”

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*--* NCAA Softball World Series at Don Porter Hall of Fame Stadium, Oklahoma City; All Times PDT TODAY’S FIRST-ROUND MATCHUPS UCLA vs. Florida State, 8 a.m.; California vs. Oklahoma, 10:30 a.m Michigan vs. Arizona State, 4 p.m.; Nebraska vs. Arizona, 6:30 p.m Note: Double-elimination tournament continues with winners’ bracket games Friday. Elimination games begin Saturday and continue into Sunday. National championship game Monday, 10:15 a.m., ESPN

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