UCLA
Arizona
Seventh-Ranked Bruins Keep on Rolling With Run Rule of #16 Arizona
May 02, 2015 | Softball
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LOS ANGELES - The seventh-ranked Bruins extended their winning streak to 11, scoring nine unanswered runs on Friday to run rule #16 Arizona 9-1 in five innings at Easton Stadium.
UCLA, which has scored at least five runs in every game during its win streak, improves to 42-8 overall and 16-3 in Pac-12 play, while the Wildcats fall to 37-12 and 12-7 in league action.
The Bruins had 10 hits from eight players, as senior Stephany LaRosa had a pair of hits and RBI and sophomore Delaney Spaulding went 2-for-2 with three RBI and two walks.
Senior Ally Carda moved to 23-4 in the circle, striking out seven in five strong innings, giving up a run, five hits and two walks. She had a 1-2-3 frame in the first, struck out the side in the third and a pair in the fifth.
It was the Wildcats who got on the board first in the second on a leadoff homer by Katiyana Mauga, but Carda, despite getting into a couple of jams, settled the powerful Arizona bats down after that.
In the bottom of the second, the Bruins took the lead with a pair. With one out and sophomore Gabrielle Maurice at first, senior Gracie Goulder singled to left and junior Allexis Bennett was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Spaulding, who singled up the middle to plate Maurice and Goulder to put the home team up.
Arizona had the bases loaded in the third when Carda struck out Mauga to end the inning. One frame later, the bases were again full of Wildcats, but Carda got leadoff hitter Hallie Wilson looking to end the fourth. In the fifth and still a one-run game, a Kellie Fox one-out double put a runner in scoring position for Mauga and Chelsea Goodacre, owners of a combined 42 home runs, but Carda struck them both out on seven pitches to end the threat.
The Bruins used that momentum from the top of the fifth to score seven in the bottom half and mercy rule the Wildcats. Carda led off with a single to center and LaRosa crushed her 12th homer of the season over the batting cages in center to put the Bruins up 4-1. Junior Mysha Sataraka followed with a pinch-hit single to left and freshman Maddy Jelenicki walked. One out later, sophomore Jelly Felix delivered a pinch-hit double to bring home Sataraka with UCLA's fifth tally.
After an infield single for Bennett loaded the bases, Spaulding blooped a single into left to bring in Jelenicki to make it 6-1. Freshman Kylee Perez followed on the next pitch with a double to the left-center gap to score Goulder (running for Felix) and Bennett to increase the lead to 8-1. A Carda walk load the bases, and after a fielder's choice grounder to short retired Spaulding at home for the second out, Sataraka drew a four-pitch to walk to force home Perez and win the game for the Bruins.
The Bruins and the Wildcats continue their three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU and will feature free audio and live stats on UCLABruins.com.
