UCLA matches school record for season's best start
Softball
 NICOLE MILLER Sophomore shortstop/outfielder Natasha Watley throws the ball.
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Contributor
Before Wednesday, not a single team outside of the Pac-10 could overcome the UCLA softball team’s deadly combo of powerful pitching and relentless offense.
So it’s no surprise that the top-ranked Bruins (35-0) obliterated UC Santa Barbara 6-1 in a two-hour, fifty-minute affair at UCSB’s Campus Diamond to complete an undefeated pre-conference schedule.
The 35 wins match UCLA’s 1999 record for best start to a season and put the squad only one victory away from tying the school mark for most consecutive wins.
Bruin senior pitcher Courtney Dale improved to 4-0 with a dominant six-inning performance. Dale allowed only a single hit while striking out six and walking none.
The Gauchos (7-17) allowed two runs in the top of the third and were still in the game until the top of the fifth, when an error by centerfielder Leslie Simien opened the floodgates to a three-run inning. UCSB pitcher Loren Thornburg, who was pounded for eight hits in four-plus innings of work, faced two batters in the top of the fifth before Sylvia Santos came in for relief.
UCLA did a good job of producing runs, as the top two hitters, junior centerfielder Amanda Freed and sophomore shortstop Natasha Watley, each stole a pair of bases and scored a pair of runs.
Dale not only contributed on the mound, but also was the only Bruin to drive in more than one run thanks to her two sacrifice flies.
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