College Softball News

FPN Series of the Week: No. 1 Washington vs. No. 4 UCLA

This week we are looking at Pac-12 conference match-up between No. 1 Washington (41-2) vs. No. 4 UCLA (37-3). Washington continues to dominate the Pac-12. The Huskies enter the weekend series on an 11-game win streak, which is the second-longest in program history, and finishing with a perfect homestand guaranteeing them a winning season for the fourth consecutive year. UCLA has a streak of their own, winning 12 out of their last 13 games. The Bruins are looking to lengthen at home after taking the sweep against No. 16 Arizona (27-12) last weekend. Game one will start at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles, California on Friday, April 20th at 8:00pm ET. The second game will begin on Saturday, April 21 at 4:00pm ET and can be viewed on ESPN2. Both the first and last game of the series can be watched on the PAC-12 Networks, with the final game starting on Sunday, April 22 at 6:00pm ET.

At the Plate

Washington has a wide selection of reliable hitters on their team. The top two hitters in the overall season, Sis Bates and Kirstyn Thomas are batting almost identically. Bates is leading the Huskies batting .407, has 31 RBI, a .500 on-base percentage, and a slugging percentage of .637. Thomas is very close behind batting .406 with 48 RBI, and a .468 on-base percentage. Thomas is leading the team with an impressive .746 slugging percentage. Another player producing scoring attempts for Washington is Kelly Burdick. Burdick leads the Huskies in conference play batting .344 (.384 overall) with a team high 15 out of 16 successful stolen base attempts this season. Eight Huskies are batting over .300 on the season, making a realistic team average of .335. Washington has a lot of depth to their lineup.

UCLA has an extremely solid line-up coming into this series as well. Leading the Bruins in both overall and conference play are Aaliyah Jordan and Kylee Perez. Both have started 40 out of 40 games this season. They have managed to help the team achieve their team batting average of .359. Jordan contributes by leading the team in batting at .483, RBI with 53 (18 in conference play), and a slugging percentage of .808. Perez is also a force at the plate for the Bruins as she leads the team in conference play batting .435 and coming in close behind Jordan with an overall average of .439. Kylee Perez also has a .493 on-base percentage and a team high eight out of eight stolen bases. Rachel Garcia is also taking matters into her own hands with eight home runs on the season, six of which were hit during conference play. She was also recently recognized as our own FPN NCAA DI Player of the Week, USA Softball Player of the Week, as well as NFCA Pitcher of the week for the second time this season. UCLA has nine of their players currently batting over .300 and three of them over .400, showing they aren’t to be overlooked in this series.

Edge: UCLA

Gar-seeeeeya! Rachel Garcia hits a 3-run 💣 and @UCLASoftball leads 3-0.

Watch #Pac12SB live on the app: https://t.co/ZhZuI5ezsapic.twitter.com/JOetUpnm3o

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) April 16, 2018

In the Circle

Washington’s pitching staff has done an outstanding job of preventing runs, which reflects in the team’s 0.86 ERA. With two standout pitchers that have their own special skill sets, it’s going to be hard to come across a pitch to hit hard for UCLA. Leading Washington on the mound, Taran Alvelo (21-1 overall, 8-1 conference) has pitched 142.1 innings with 58 of those in conference play. Alvelo maintains her overall 0.74 ERA coming in second on the team but leads the Huskies in conference play with a .60 ERA. She also leads in strikeouts totaling 201, 71 of those were in conference match-ups. Gabbie Plain (13-1 overall, 4-1 conference) is also shining in the circle for Washington. Plain holds an overall 0.73 ERA in a total of 86.1 innings pitched. Plain has pitched 36 conference innings and has picked up 40 out of her overall 111 strikeouts in those innings. Samantha Manti (6-0) has yet to pitch a Pac-12 game for the Huskies but has been working to prove her worth striking out 37 batters in her 41.2 innings in the circle.

The majority of UCLA’s pitching has been divided up between the top three arms on their staff to give them a 1.92 team ERA. Rachel Garcia, Holly Azevedo, and Selina Ta’amilo all share time and display different talents on the mound for the Bruins. Garcia (13-1 overall, 3-1 conference) leads the team with her overall 1.38 ERA as well as in conference play with her 1.89 ERA. Garcia has tossed 91.1 innings this season and has 139 total strikeouts, 29.2 of those innings and 49 strikeouts were a product of Pac-12 play. Azevedo (12-0 overall, 4-0 conference) maintains a total ERA of 1.81 and looks to improve her 2.60 conference ERA. In Azevedo’s 73.3 innings pitched she has tied Garcia with 29.2 in conference play. She has recorded 51 strikeouts so far this season and has yet to give up a home run. Stepping up to lead the team in conference innings pitched is Selina Ta’amilo (9-2 overall, 5-2 conference) with 42 out of her total 62.1 being against Pac-12 opponents.

Edge: Washington

T5 | Make it nine strikeouts as Plain freezes ’em with a beautiful pitch to end the inning! pic.twitter.com/hCCWw7Brjd

— Washington Softball (@UWSoftball) April 15, 2018

Opinion

Both teams are coming into the series very evenly matched, Washington has an away record of 11-2 and UCLA’s securing a home field record of 12-1. Washington is proving their dominance on defense, only giving up 0.82 runs per conference game while scoring almost five for themselves. However, UCLA was previously known this season for being the last team in the nation to have an undefeated record and is currently only a half-game behind Washington in conference standings. The Bruins have only lost three Pac-12 games accounting for their three total losses on the season.

Pick: Washington 2, UCLA 1

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