UCLA
Colorado State
#7 Bruins Complete 4-1 Weekend
February 14, 2016 | Softball
UCLA Softball Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Junior Delaney Spaulding tied a career high with three hits, including a two-run homer, while sophomore Selina Ta'amilo pitched 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, as the seventh-ranked Bruins completed a 4-1 weekend with an 8-3 victory over Colorado State on Sunday at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Ta'amilo struck out five to improve to 3-0 on the year. She allowed seven hits and one walk. The Bruins had nine hits from six different players. Junior Gabrielle Maurice recorded two hits, while freshmen Paige Halstead and Taylor Pack each drove in a pair of runs.
UCLA used the long ball in each of its first two at-bats to take an early lead. In the top of the first, senior Allexis Bennett led off the game with a single to right-center, and one out later, Spaulding belted her first home run of the season to right to put the Bruins up by two.
In the second, Maurice led off with a bunt single and moved to second on a throwing error by the Colorado State pitcher. Halstead followed with the first home run of her career to right field to extend the lead to 4-0.
The Bruins tacked on two more in the fourth. Senior Mysha Sataraka led off with a walk and moved to second on a single to left from Maurice. After a Halstead grounder back to the pitcher moved both runners up, Pack recorded the first hit of her career through the left side to bring in both runners to make it 6-0.
Ta'amilo worked her way out of a few jams to keep the Rams scoreless. In the first, after a leadoff triple, Ta'amilo retired the next three on two strikeouts and a comebacker. She would get out of a second and first, one-out situation in the fourth with a strikeout and a comebacker. In the fifth, again with runners at second and first and one out, an inning-ending double play from Sataraka to Pack closed out the inning.
Colorado State (0-5) finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth on RBI doubles by Kristina Akiona and Amber Nelson and a bases-loaded walk to Madison Kilcrease. Ta'amilo re-entered for Grauer and got the final out on a pop up.
The Bruins got another two-spot in the seventh, although it could have been more if not for a questionable call. Freshman Zoe Shaw reached on a leadoff error and was pinch-run for by junior Robyn Corruth, who moved to second one out later on another CSU error with sophomore Kylee Perez up. A single to left-center by Spaulding loaded the bases and sophomore Madeline Jelenicki would get hit to force home Corruth to make it 7-3. Sataraka followed with a high fly ball to shallow right-center, which tipped off the glove of the converging CSU second baseman. The umpire called for the infield fly rule though, which put Sataraka out, but allowed Perez to score to make it 8-3.
The Bruins travel to Cathedral City next weekend for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic I. First up is a contest with #17 UCF on Friday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. All games at the MNCC I will be broadcast by FloSoftball.com.
