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Caitlin Benyi and the Bruins lost to the Huskies on the road. The team was unable to convert thei

When asked about her team’s 3-2 loss to the Huskies at Washington on Wednesday, UCLA softball coach Sue Enquist put it very succinctly. “You don’t have enough space to break down all the mental errors we had,” she said. Offensively, the slump that had plagued UCLA earlier this season came back on Wednesday. It’s not that the Bruins have ever struggled to get runners on base. It’s just that the runners have stayed there. UCLA left 12 runners on base, hitting only 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. “I’m very disappointed,” Enquist said. “We didn’t come to play, and they did. They jumped on us early.” The No. 10 Bruins (24-12, 5-6 Pac-10) had many golden opportunities to score. In the second inning, they had a runner on second base with one out and couldn’t score. In the third, they had the bases loaded with one out and couldn’t score. In the fourth, they had the bases loaded with no outs and couldn’t score. Kristen Dedmon hit a two-run single in the fifth to score UCLA’s only runs. But later in the inning, the Bruins had runners on second and third with one out and couldn’t score again. And in their final rally in the seventh, the Bruins had a runner on second with only one out and could not score the tying run. “This would have been a great game to win,” Enquist said. “It would have been a big confidence boost. We were starting to hit both Washington pitchers well.” No. 22 Washington (25-15, 5-6) is known for having one of the best offensive lineups in the nation, but its pitching is last in the Pac-10 in ERA. The two pitchers the Huskies used in the game, Caitlin Noble and Ashley Boek, are the bottom two pitchers in the Pac-10 in ERA among pitchers who have thrown 100 innings. “In this game, we did look a lot like we did in the beginning of the season,” Enquist said. “We were playing reactionary softball.” UCLA pitcher Anjelica Selden struggled in the early part of the game before settling into a groove. The Huskies scored single runs in the first, third and fourth innings, two of them on solo home runs. “Jelly needs to work on being ready when the game starts,” Enquist said about her pitcher, who did strike out 12 batters in six innings. “She has to be ready when she goes out there.”

NOTE: Sunday’s doubleheader against Stanford is nearly sold out, with only 100 tickets still available. The remaining tickets for Sunday will be sold that day starting at 9:30 a.m. at Easton Stadium.