When UCLA softball began the season, the major question was who
would replace All-American pitcher Keira Goerl as the Bruins’
staff ace.
Many had their choices, but few thought that it would be
freshman pitcher Anjelica Selden.
Selden not only took over as the staff ace, she led the softball
team to within one win of the NCAA Championship and delivered a
historic season in the circle.
Selden’s role as ace is not typically given to a freshman
at UCLA, which prides itself on having arguably the deepest pool of
talent in the nation.
She was immediately put in the spotlight at the most storied
program in softball history, which had won two consecutive NCAA
Championships.
Selden pitched every inning of the postseason for the Bruins,
dominating most of the time and working herself out of jams when
necessary.
“That’s how I measure her learning ability,”
coach Sue Enquist said. “It’s what she does after she
bobbles a ball or gives up a hit. Jelly (Selden’s nickname)
has shown great leadership for us.”
She destroyed the UCLA record for strikeouts in a season,
punching out 485 batters, while the previous record was 359 (DeeDee
Weiman, 1994) and set the single-season innings pitched record with
325 and appearances record with 50.
“Jelly’s done great things for us the whole
year,” UCLA catcher Emily Zaplatosch said. “She’s
pitched well when we’ve needed it the most.”
In the Regionals and Super Regionals, Selden was asked to pitch
two games in one day three different times, leading her team to the
next round in all three cases.
She was named to the Women’s College World Series
All-Tournament team after shutting down many of the top lineups in
the country.
Selden allowed only one earned run in UCLA’s first three
games at the World Series, shutting out No. 1 Michigan in Game 1 of
the NCAA Championship Series and allowed only one run through nine
innings in Game 3.
Compiled by Gilbert Quiñonez, Bruin Sports senior
staff.