BRUINS' THREE-PEAT PUT ON HOLD UCLA HOPES REST ON FRESHMAN PITCHER MICHIGAN 5, UCLA 2.Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer The way things have gone for the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX softball team this season, it wouldn't seem right if it cruised through the title round of the Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Women's Softball Tournament for college softball in the United States. The tournament is conducted in an eight-team, double-elimination format. in two games. True to form, it didn't. After shutting out Michigan in the first game of the series, the Bruins lost 5-2 in Tuesday's Game 2 of the championship series in Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (1990 pop. 444,719), state capital, and seat of Oklahoma co., central Okla., on the North Canadian River; inc. 1890. The state's largest city, it is an important livestock market, a wholesale, distribution, industrial, and financial center, and a farm . Michigan came back from a two-run deficit, scoring four runs in the fifth. The Bruins (40-19), who are seeking their 11th national title, will play Michigan (64-7) in the final game of the best-of-3 series at 4:30 p.m. today. ``This team is certainly familiar in this position, and we'll use that (as motivation),'' UCLA coach Sue Enquist said. ``We just need (pitcher Anjelica Selden Anjelica "Jelly" Selden is an American athlete who was born in Vacaville, California and attended Vanden High School from 2001 to 2005. She is the starting pitcher for the UCLA Bruins women's softball team, and she has recorded 65 wins and 893 strikeouts in her NCAA Division I ) to play fearless, to trust the defense, and to have the offense stick with our plan.'' If the Bruins win today, it will be their third consecutive NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association title. Because of UCLA's struggles this year - it has lost 19 games - this one wasn't expected. Selden retired the first 10 batters she faced and struck out 13, but she ran into trouble in the fifth inning, giving up four runs - just two of them earned. Becky Marx's two-run homer to left tied the score 2-2, and Rebekah Milian followed with a single. Selden's throwing error enabled Tiffany Haas to reach base, and the runners advanced on Alessandra Giampaolo's sacrifice. Jessica Merchant followed with a two-run double to give Michigan the lead. Samanta Findlay added an RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in double in the seventh. ``Obviously, I missed on a couple of pitches, and they executed,'' Selden said. ``There's nothing you can do. I'll try to be sharper (today). They hit my missed pitches, and now I know what to do.'' Selden, a freshman, made her 49th appearance Tuesday, breaking the school record she shared with Keira Goerl. Selden will make No. 50 today, pitching for the third consecutive game. She said she'll be fine as long as she ices her arm. ``She has great recovery time,'' Enquist said. ``She's extremely resilient. She's got great respect for the game, and I expect her to go in with a wonderful attitude.'' The top-seeded Wolverines have never won an NCAA title, but they're playing in the WCWS WCWS Women's College World Series (softball) WCWS Window Circulating Water System for the eighth time in 11 years. Pitcher Jennie Ritter rit·ter n. pl. ritter A knight. [German, from Middle High German riter, from Middle Dutch ridder, from r struck out five and allowed just four hits. With one out in the third inning, UCLA's Lisa Dodd reached on a error and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Valencia High product Ashley Herrera. Andrea Duran tripled to right to bring Dodd home. Caitlin Benyi led off the fourth inning with a home run to left, her 14th of the season. With the loss Tuesday, UCLA's string of 13 consecutive victories in WCWS games was snapped. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. contributed. Jill Painter, (818)713-3615 jill.painter(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) Michigan, left, seeks its first WCWS title today, and UCLA, with pitcher Anjelica Selden (4), right, tries for its third straight. Sue Ogrocki/Associatd Press |
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