UCLA Softball: Bruins survive a scare, advance to Super Regionals
After a loss in the NCAA Softball Regionals on Saturday, the UCLA softball team came alive on Sunday to take out Cal State Fullerton in two games and advance to the Super Regionals.
The UCLA softball team was the #3 overall seed coming into the NCAA Softball Regionals this past weekend. As one of the favorites, to not just win the first series of the NCAA Tournament, but the tournament itself, the Bruins gave everyone that support the blue and gold a good scare on Saturday.
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After a solid 3-0 win over Sacramento State on Friday night at Easton Field on the campus of UCLA, the Bruins had a dose of reality served as the winner of the other Friday game, Cal State Fullerton, shocked the Bruins with a 3-2 win in 9 innings early on Saturday.
The way this tournament works is that if a team loses twice, they are done, hence the mini-freak out by UCLA fans. One more loss and the Bruins were out of the tournament. This after they spent most of the latter half of the season as the #1 ranked team in the nation.
The loss meant head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez and her Bruins needed to win three straight games to move onto the next round. UCLA did not exactly see it as a challenge, but more of a speed bump in the road.
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In their second Saturday game, they wrecked Texas State by the score of 14-1, ending the game in five innings due to the mercy rule. Redshirt sophomore Rachel Garcia gave the Bruins a boost with 4 RBIs on her own, which came on two hits. Kylee Perez, Brianna Perez and Bubba Nickles all contributed two runs each with 1, 2 and 3 RBIs, respectively.
That win put the Bruins in the first of two games against Fullerton, who needed just one win to advance. It was not going to be an easy task, especially after the Bruins got a 3-0 victory in the first game.
In the late game, things were tight through five innings. Fullerton had a 2-1 in the third, but UCLA managed to go out in front 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Things changed when Garcia came back up to bat. She blasted a three-run homer, lifting the Bruins to a 6-2 lead. Fullerton managed to get two more runs in their last at bats, but it was not enough as they fell to the Bruins, 6-4.
UCLA will now face #14 Arizona next week at Easton Stadium. The series is scheduled as follows: Thursday at 6 p.m. PT, Friday, 6 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. (if necessary). The winner of that series heads to the NCAA Softball World Series in Oklahoma City, OK. Go Bruins!