No. 9 Softball Routs Arizona, 10-2, in Five Innings
LOS ANGELES – The No. 9 UCLA softball team scored in every inning en route to a 10-2 mercy-rule victory versus No. 19 Arizona at Easton Stadium Friday evening.
The Bruins (29-9, 13-3 Pac-12) posted 11 hits, including two home runs from redshirt senior Maya Brady and sophomore Megan Grant.
A three-run fifth inning put the mercy rule into effect. Walks to two of UCLA's first three batters by Wildcats' (31-14-1, 12-10 Pac-12) pitcher Miranda Stoddard set the table for Sharlize Palacios. The senior backstop went first-pitch swinging for a hit through the 5-6 hole to drive in a run and stretch the Bruins' lead to 8-2. With runners on first and second, graduate Jadelyn Allchin smacked a ball down the right field line to clear the bases for a two-RBI triple and secure game one.
Starting pitcher Taylor Tinsley earned the win for UCLA after 4.0 shutout innings against Arizona. The sophomore from Lawrenceville, Ga. punched out four batters over her first two innings and scattered four hits and one walk in the game. Tinsley has now picked up the win in each of her last five outings.
Brady opened the scoring in the first inning with an opposite-field solo homer to left. In 12 career games against the Wildcats, Brady has homered nine times and driven in 18 runs. She is now tied for second with Stephany LaRosa on UCLA's career home runs list with 66.
UCLA blew the game open with a four-run second inning. Three of the Bruins' seniors each drove in a run in the frame. Brady, up at the plate for the second time in as many innings, was presented with an RBI opportunity following walks to Thessa Malau'ulu and Janelle Meoño and a single by Seneca Curo. With the bases loaded, Brady knocked in her second and third runs of the night on a hard-hit single through the right side to improve the score to 3-0. A long fly ball to right field off the bat of Palacios was plenty deep to allow Meoño to tag up and score from third. The next batter, Allchin, singled to right field to cap the scoring. The hit parade continued with two more singles by Jordan Woolery and Taylor Stephens before the inning concluded.
With her 2-for-4 performance, Brady's lifetime average versus the Bruins' longtime rival sits at .513. Allchin also matched her season high in runs batted in tonight with three.
Arizona answered with two runs on two hits and an error in the top of the third. An infield single by Tayler Biehl to second base and a hard-hit ball by Kaiah Altmeyer off a Brady backhand attempt at shortstop put two on with nobody out. A groundout by Dakota Kennedy moved the air into scoring position for Wildcats' average leader Regan Shockey. Shockey hit a chopper to Malau'ulu at third base who was unable to come up with the ball cleanly. Biehl easily scored from third on the play.
Tinsley walked the next batter, Carlie Scupin, and suddenly found herself in a bases-loaded jam. Allie Skaggs plated Arizona's second run by beating out a possible 4-6-3 double play to extend the inning and cut the lead to 5-2.
Grant got one run back in the bottom half of the third on a towering, solo blast into the upper canopy of Easton Stadium's trees in right field. Grant's blast marked her fourth home run of the year.
The Wildcats threatened to score again off relief pitcher Kaitlyn Terry in the top of the fifth. Two walks from the freshman southpaw brought Arizona's clean-up hitter, Skaggs, to the plate. Terry induced a groundball to Brady who took it herself to second base and turned a 6-3 double play to end the inning.
Woolery also had an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth on a hit through the left side.
UCLA looks to clinch the series win against Arizona in game two tomorrow at 5 p.m. (PT) at Easton Stadium. The game will be available for viewing on the Pac-12 Networks.