May 1, 2011
Final Stats
BERKELEY - After run-ruling the defending national champions Bruins on Saturday for UCLA's first mercy loss of the year, the No. 9/10 California softball team broke out the brooms with a 2-1 win over the No. 11/8 Bruins on Sunday afternoon, completing the series sweep.
With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Jamia Reid hit a bases-loaded, two-out, walk-off single to push the Bears to victory. With a 1-1 count, Reid tallied her 11th hit of the week and second RBI of the past four games.
"On the first pitch, I wasn't really thinking, I just swung really hard," Jamia Reid said of her final at-bat. "Then I got a ball. I told myself to go back to what I know. I swung, touched the ball, and that was that."
To begin the base running for the Bears in the seventh, Ashley Decker reached when her grounder was not only bobbled by second baseman Talee Snow but then lost behind her. Jordan Wallace watched four pitches sail by for a free trip to first. The bases become loaded when Elia Reid registered a shot to her leg, bringing up Jamia Reid, and the rest is history.
With the win, Cal sweeps is baby sister school for the first time since 1998. The Bears defeated the Bruins, 7-2, on Friday and 9-1 in five innings on Saturday.
"Today was a really good game," sophomore pitcher Jolene Henderson put it mildly. "We knew UCLA was going to come out firing on all cylinders after the past two games. I think the Bruins really showed a lot of strength. As a team, we also showed a lot of team strength and unity. We had some errors but when we needed to, we stayed strong. To have a walk-off hit like that from Jamia, it's just amazing."
Jamia Reid paced everyone with four hits while both she and Jace Williams tallied RBI. Lead-off hitter Katie Schroeder led her Bruins with two hits.
Donna Kerr pitched in her third game of the weekend, striking out seven Bears and allowing just one earned run in 6.2 innings of work. Also in her third game - her third complete game - of the weekend was Jolene Henderson, who fanned nine while giving up six hits but not permitting an earned run.
"Jolene is just amazing," Williams said of the sophomore hurler. "She does such a great job. She keeps us in the game. We didn't have as many hits or runs as the previous two days but we made things happen with timely hits."
On Sunday - for the first time all week - the Bears had to battle back from a deficit for UCLA scored its four run of the weekend in the top of the sixth.
Left fielder Andrea Harrison singled past a leaping Britt Vonk at short for a hit to start the sixth. First baseman Dani Yudin laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Harrison to second, where she was replaced by Devon Lindvall. Designated player Samantha Camuso grounded out to Victoria Jones with the freshman looking Lindvall back at second. Catcher Alyssa Tiumalu connected for a grounder to short, but Vonk could not get a handle on it and Lindvall scored while Tiumalu went to second.
With her Bears down by one run in the bottom of the sixth, Jamia Reid slapped herself to first with one out. Vonk moved her to second with a hit to short that left Kellie Fox with no play. Jace Williams connected on the first pitch for a single through the right side, going past a diving second baseman Talee Snow, scoring Jamia Reid from second and moving Vonk to third.
"It's all about the table setters," Jace Williams responded when asked about her RBI double. "We did a great job of getting on base. We had clutch plays all around on offense and on defense."
Things got real in the top of the seventh with the game tied 1-1, when center fielder Katie Schroeder took one to the arm to start things off. GiOnna DiSalvatore got on when Britt Vonk bobbled her grounder, taking a shot to the face on the hop. So with two outs and runners at second and third courtesy a pass ball, Harrison lined out to the fantastic Jace Williams.
Williams, Cal's go-to third baseman, has fielded more than her fair share of hard-hit liners and ground balls at third.
"It seems to be a consistent trend over the past few weekends," Williams said of the hot corner. "It does keep me on my toes because I keep having all these flash backs of previous plays. Luckily the ones today were low. It was scary, but it could have been scarier."
