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Michelle Turner, shown here playing against Fullerton earlier this season, will pitch this weeken

Team home for Easton Classic

Gilbert Quiñonez
Published: Friday, February 28, 2003

“It’s good to be back at home.”

Four road trips and 26 days later, Natasha Watley is justifiably relieved. The UCLA softball team will finally play a home game today when it hosts the Easton Classic.

“Traveling takes a toll on you mentally and physically,” the senior shortstop added.

The No. 1 Bruins (17-1) last graced Easton Field on Feb. 2, after hitting such destinations as Las Vegas, Riverside, Boca Raton, and Santa Barbara.

But when they take on Missouri and Boston College today and Saturday, they will have the luxury of a home crowd.

“I can’t wait,” pitcher Michelle Turner said. “Traveling is fun, but it’s great to have a bunch of fans at home.”

Neither Missouri (8-6) or Boston College (3-5) is currently ranked, but have both beaten top-25 teams. The Tigers have beaten No. 21 Texas A&M and the Eagles have beaten No. 16 South Carolina, who the Bruins defeated 12-0 on Feb. 14.

UCLA is 4-1 against ranked opponents so far this season, and owns a 16-game winning streak.

Two Bruins were given awards this week. Watley was given the Pac-10 Player of the Week award, and Keira Goerl was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week. Both players helped the team win the Florida Atlantic University Worth Invitational last weekend, and a doubleheader against UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday.

However, the Bruins say they still have room for improvement, since many players are still not pleased with their individual performances.

“We’ve got to know our zone better,” UCLA head coach Sue Enquist said. “We’re going to work on ground balls and we haven’t been out on the practice field much lately. We’ve got to focus. We can’t be stiff.”

The Bruins play Boston College today and Saturday at 11:30 a.m. UCLA will play Missouri today at 2 p.m. and on Saturday at 9 a.m.

After the double round-robin play today and Saturday, the second and third place teams will face each other at 10 a.m., and the winner will face the first-place team in the championship game at 2 p.m.