Softball World Series Los Angeles Regional Breakdown

Fred Welser

Los Angeles Regional Breakdown

The Los Angeles regional is hosted by a UCLA team that went 12-12 in the Pac-12 and finished fifth in the conference.  The Bruins have assembled one of the most powerful offenses in the country with 81 total homeruns and 367 runs scored. They have only been shut out twice this season, both times to number one ranked and Pac-12 leader California.  The offense is led by freshman phenomenon Stephany LaRosa, who is 6th in the nation with a .445 batting average, 20th in the nation with 16 homeruns and 8th in the nation with 60 RBI’s.  While offense wins fans, defense wins championships. UCLA is making nearly an error per game and their pitchers, while talented, are still young and lack the polish of some of their rivals.  They will need to show their maturity to have success in the tournament.

Coach Lonni Alameda’s Florida State Seminoles hope to slow down the UCLA offence with the pitching of junior Monica Perry.  Perry is one of the best in the ACC with a 1.69 ERA and a 20-5 record.  The Florida State offense plays small ball well with the stolen base skills of Tiffani Brown and others.  Providing a challenge to both UCLA and Florida State will be the Aztecs of San Diego State.  Coming from the Mountain West Conference, the Aztecs are a strong offensive team.  The final team in the region are the Hofstra Pride, champions of the CAA.  Hofstra is led by their All-American pitcher Olivia Galati who leads the nation with a .95 ERA.  It will be interesting to see how well she can hold off the UCLA hitters.

 

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