University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
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10th-Ranked Bruins Rally to Beat Utah
March 15, 2015 | Softball
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LOS ANGELES - The 10th-ranked Bruins came back from a 2-0 deficit with three in the fifth and one in the sixth to record a 4-2 victory over Utah on Saturday at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins move to 26-5 overall (12th-straight win) and 2-0 in Pac-12 play, while the Utes fall to 17-8 and 0-2 in league action.
UCLA once again had solid pitching in the circle, with freshman Selina Ta'amilo starting and improving to 5-1 on the season. She struck out three in five innings, allowing two unearned runs, two hits and one walk. Ta'amilo retired the last nine batters she faced and struck out two in the first. Senior Ally Carda had a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh for her second save of the season, fanning two, as the Bruin hurlers set down the last 15 of the game.
The Bruins had seven hits, as junior Allexis Bennett posted her second-straight, two-hit game.
Utah scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first. Hannah Flippen led off with a walk and moved to second on an Anissa Urtez sacrifice. Kate Dickman then grounded a ball to short, which was bobbled by sophomore Delaney Spaulding for one error, and when her throw to first was wide, Flippen advanced to third for another miscue on the Bruin shortstop. Dickman stole second, and one out later, Kristen Stewart singled up the middle to score a pair to put the visitors up.
The Bruins finally broke through with three in the fifth. Senior Gracie Goulder opened the frame with her second homer of the season, launching a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right-center to cut the UCLA deficit in half. Bennett followed with a slap single to third, and a wild throw by Stewart allowed Bennett to take second.
Carda then doubled off the base of the wall in left-center to plate Bennett and even the game at two. Spaulding laid down a bunt single in front of the plate to reach safely and then took off for second, but got caught in a pickle between first and second. However, Carda alertly scampered home during the rundown to put the Bruins up 3-2.
In the sixth, junior Brittany Moeai added some insurance with a homer to right on the first pitch she saw, her fourth of the year to tie for the team lead, to make it 4-2.
The Bruins conclude their weekend series against Utah on Sunday at 3 p.m. A limited amount of tickets are available at the Easton Stadium ticket office on the day of the game. All seating is general admission and first-come, first-serve, with gates opening at 12:30 p.m. for UCLA batting practice.
