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  COURTNEY STEWART Sophomore Monique Mejia fields the ball during a 7-0 win over Long Beach State.

By Vytas Mazeika

Daily Bruin Contributor

So far this season, the top-ranked UCLA softball program has won the Spartan Early Bird Tournament at San Jose State, the UNLV Classic and the Texas Invitational.

But for the Bruins (21-0), the regular season tournament they will enjoy playing the most will be this weekend’s Easton Classic. Why? Because when a team hosts their own tournament, they can prove that they are the host with the most – not to mention they get to sleep in their own beds.

“I know that my players are looking forward to playing at home,” UCLA Head Coach Sue Enquist said. “It’s good to be around the same atmosphere after living in hotels and eating in restaurants on the road.”

With the help of Cal State Northridge (6-4), who will provide a venue for four of the nine doubleheaders, UCLA will host the Easton Classic; Colorado State (2-6), No. 16 Oregon State (15-4-1), South Florida (11-9) and UNLV (9-7) round out the field.

“We know we are going to be playing some strong teams,” UNLV Head Coach Shan McDonald said. “We know UCLA is one of the top teams and Oregon State is as well. We are expecting a good tournament.”

The round-robin tournament will have each team playing doubleheaders on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The winner will be decided based on overall record, with the tie-breakers being head-to-head record, fewest runs allowed and most runs scored.

Pitching will be prominent in the Easton Classic, with the Matadors’ duo of senior Sarah Farnworth (4-2 record, 2.45 ERA) and junior Tanya Ledesma (2-1, 2.67); the Beaver’s 1-2 punch of junior Crystal Draper (10-1, 1.17) and Monica Hoffman (3-3, 1.46), the Bulls’ ace, senior Jesse Kowal (8-3, 0.55) and the Runnin’ Rebels’ trio of Kacey Ellis (3-2, 2.28), Nicole Truax (2-1, 2.42) and Geney Orris (2-2, 2.67).

The Bruins, though, come armed with four pitchers of their own. Junior ace Amanda Freed (9-0, 0.13) has dominated hitters, only allowing 26 hits while striking out 62 batters in 56 innings of work. Senior Courtney Dale (1-0, 1.24) just recently rejoined the rotation after off-season shoulder surgery, while freshman Keira Goerl (6-0, 1.66) and senior Stephanie Swenson (5-0, 0.75) have done a great job.

As good as UCLA’s pitching staff is, Enquist and her coaching staff feel there is still room for improvement. In the Texas Invitational and the subsequent doubleheader at Southwest Texas State, they stressed keeping walks down.

“There were certain things our pitchers had been working to be more effective,” Enquist said. “Our goals (this past week) were to try to limit our free passes to first base and I think we did a good job of stepping in that direction.”

The Bruins’ prolific offense has been slowed down lately, scoring 16 runs in their last five games, for a 3.2 average, as opposed to the 10.3 average they enjoyed in the first 15 games.

UCLA isn’t worried, though, as Enquist attests the drop in hitting to a drop in the level of sharpness and focus that should be regained soon.

Hitting as a team, much like smashing home runs, is a rhythmic task and the Bruin hitters understand that.

“Home runs are a tricky thing because when you’re trying to hit them, you never do,” UCLA junior infielder Stacey Nuveman said.

For the favored Bruins, winning their Easton Classic should not be quite as tricky as hitting home runs.

• • •

UCLA injury report: Sophomore C/3B Toria Auelua tore the meniscus in her right knee and will be out a minimum of 6-8 weeks after successfully undergoing surgery on Wednesday. The injury took place while Auelua was preparing for game one of UCLA’s doubleheader at Southwest Texas State on Feb. 26.

Senior P/DP Courtney Dale had eight stitches in her upper lip and a chipped lower tooth after fouling a ball off her mouth in that same game. Her availability for the Easton Classic will be a game-time decision.

With contributions by Andrew Borders and Michael Sneag, Daily Bruin Contributors.

Original graphic by ADAM BROWN/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by CHRISTINE TAN/Daily Bruin