NCAA DIVISION I SOFTBALL: UCLA WINS TWICE TO ADVANCE GAME 1: UCLA 6, CS FULLERTON 0 GAME 2: UCLA 3, CS FULLERTON 1.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne Staff Writer

UCLA freshman pitcher Anjelica Selden is growing up in a hurry.

Selden, the Pacific-10 Conference Newcomer of the Year, struck out 22 batters and allowed just one run in two games as UCLA swept Cal State Fullerton 6-0 and 3-1 to win its NCAA sub-regional tournament Sunday afternoon at Easton Stadium.

On Saturday, Selden had one of the worst innings of her young career in the Bruins' 2-1, 11-inning loss to Fullerton. UCLA had taken a 1-0 lead on Jodie Legaspi's home run in the top of the 11th, but Selden struggled with her control and couldn't hold the lead.

The loss left two-time defending national champion UCLA one loss away from elimination, but with barely a few hours to recover, Selden rebounded and pitched the Bruins to a 4-1 victory over UNLV Saturday night and two wins Sunday over Fullerton (30-21).

``(Saturday), I was upset and disappointed in myself,'' Selden said. ``I just told myself, '(Today) is a new day.' And I wanted to show I could stay poised in any situation and not let anything affect me.''

In the first game Sunday, UCLA (34-17) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Emily Zaplatosch's three-run homer to left field. Caitlin Benyi added a two-run shot to center in the second inning and Kristen Dedmon hit a solo home run to right in the sixth.

Selden cruised the rest of the way, striking out eight and yielding only two hits.

``She's a quick study and it says a lot about her character to be humiliated and to be able to come back, and be so decisive today,'' UCLA coach Sue Enquist said of Selden. ``I just felt she had ice in her veins today.''

In the second game, UCLA again scored in the first inning when Legaspi drove in Benyi with a two-out single to center. The Bruins added another run in the fourth when former Valencia High standout Ashley Herrera singled to left and scored on Andrea Duran's triple to center. Hererra was 3 for 4 on the day and reached base five times.

UCLA added an insurance run in sixth when Krista Cobrun hit a deep home run to right. Selden took it from there, striking out 14 and giving up only three hits. She struck out the side in the first, fourth and seventh innings.

Selden (23-11), who on Saturday broke the UCLA single-season strikeout record, now has 404 strikeouts on the season, becoming only the fifth freshman in NCAA history to post 400 or more strikeouts. The highest total for a freshman pitcher is 582, by Tennessee's Monica Abbott in 2004. Texas' Cat Osterman struck out 554 as a freshman in 2002.

``We've had our ups and downs throughout the season, but I think at this point that's going to work to our advantage,'' said Legaspi, who was 3 for 6 on the day and made several sparkling defensive plays at shortstop. ``We have those things in our basket now and we can go out there and play, always knowing in the back of our minds that things can happen so we have to constantly keep pushing.''

UCLA hasn't won more than five games in a row this season.

UCLA, seeded seventh in the 64-team bracket, will host No. 10 seed Georgia in an NCAA Super Regional, a best-of-three series beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.

According to a school spokesman, UCLA will install lights at Easton Stadium sometime this week. Saturday's games will be at 6 p.m. and, if necessary, 8:30 p.m.

Ramona Shelburne, [phone]

ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com