UCLA
California
Monday Game Halted, Declared Tie
March 22, 2016 | Softball
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BERKELEY, Calif. – A day that began at 1 p.m. for #14 UCLA and California ended in darkness and rain, as the two teams braved nearly 3 1/2 hours of weather delays and played to a 3-3 tie.
Play was officially halted at 6:49 p.m., the third delay of the afternoon and evening, with the Bruins up 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth after scoring the go-ahead run in the top half of the inning. However, since Cal did not finish its at-bat, the score reverted to the last completed frame, which resulted in the 3-3 draw through five innings. The Pac-12 Conference announced its decision on Wednesday.
The tie is just the fifth in UCLA history, the first-ever draw in a conference contest for the Bruins and the first tie since Feb. 18, 2000 against Michigan.
The Bruins had four hits from four different players. Three pitchers saw the circle for UCLA. Sophomore Selina Ta'amilo started and struck out one in two hitless innings, giving up one walk. Redshirt junior Paige McDuffee fanned two in an inning of work, allowing a run, two hits and two walks. Sophomore Johanna Grauer tossed two frames of relief, striking out one and giving up two runs (one earned), two hits and two walks.
After a scoreless first, UCLA got on the board in the second inning, which lasted over three hours. Sophomore Madeline Jelenicki led off with a sharp-hit infield single to third and moved to second on a sacrifice by freshman Paige Halstead. Junior Gabrielle Maurice worked a 1-2 count before the rains came for the first time, causing a two-hour, 44-minute delay. Upon resumption, Maurice knocked the first pitch she saw up the middle for a single to bring in Jelenicki to put the Bruins on the board. Maurice took second on the throw in, and one out later, came home on a single to left off the bat of senior Allexis Bennett to increase UCLA's lead to 2-0.
In the bottom of the third, a two-out, bases-loaded walk to Taurie Pogue snapped McDuffee's scoreless streak at 8 2/3 innings to cut the Bruins' lead to a run. In the fourth, Cal tied the game without the benefit of a hit, as two walks, a hit by pitch and a dropped throw by junior Delaney Spaulding on a pick-off attempt plated Octavia Bond to make it 2-all.
UCLA re-took the lead in the fifth. Freshman Zoe Shaw walked, moved to second on a Bennett ground out, advanced to third on an illegal pitch and scored on an RBI single through the 5-6 hole by Spaulding to make it 3-2. In the bottom half of the fifth, the Golden Bears tied it again on a two-out, RBI single from Kobie Pettis.
The Bruins grabbed the lead back in the sixth. Jelenicki reached on a leadoff error and was pinch-run for by freshman Imani Johnson, who moved to second on a sacrifice from Halstead and scored on Maurice's second RBI single to put UCLA on top 4-3. Grauer was pitching to the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the sixth, but with a 3-2 count, the already dark skies opened up and play was called for the day. The stats in the top of the sixth will not count towards any overall statistics.
UCLA opens up a three-game series at Easton Stadium against Washington, starting on Thursday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks and will also feature live audio and stats on UCLABruins.com.
