UCLA
Cal State Fullerton
#16 Bruins Come Back to Beat Fullerton
March 30, 2016 | Softball
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FULLERTON, Calif. - Sophomore Selina Ta'amilo tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, retiring 16 of the 18 batters she faced, as the 16th-ranked Bruins came back to defeat Cal State Fullerton by a score of 5-4 on Tuesday at Anderson Family Field.
Ta'amilo, who improved to 9-2 on the season, struck out five and gave up just two hits. She retired 12 in a row at one point, posting 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth and a pair of strikeouts in the fourth. Sophomore Johanna Grauer started and struck out two in 1 2/3 innings. The Bruins (20-10-1) had six hits, as sophomore Kylee Perez recorded two and scored twice, including the game-winning run.
The Titans (25-10) struck first in their initial at-bat on a two-run homer by Sarah Moore. UCLA got one back in the second on a long ball of its own, as sophomore Madeline Jelenicki belted her team-best eighth of the season to straightaway center to cut the Bruins' deficit to 2-1.
A two-run single by Alexis Gonzalez in the bottom of the second gave the home team a 4-1 lead, but the Bruins would tie things up with two in the third and one in the fourth on a pair of two-out rallies. In the third, Perez laid down a bunt single and junior Delaney Spaulding brought her in with a two-run homer to left, her sixth of the year, to make it 4-3 Fullerton. In the fourth, freshmen Brianna Tautalafua and Zoe Shaw drew two-out free passes and senior Allexis Bennett singled up the middle to plate Tautalafua to even things at four.
In the seventh, Perez led off with another bunt single, moved to second on a Spaulding sacrifice and to third on a ground out by senior Mysha Sataraka. After a walk to freshman Paige Halstead, Jelenicki drew a free pass, but ball four went to the backstop to allow Perez to score the go-ahead run.
The Bruins travel to Eugene for a three-game series at #4 Oregon this weekend. The series starts on Friday at 6 p.m., continues on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and culminates with a 2 p.m. game on Sunday. The Friday and Sunday contests will air on Pac-12 Network Los Angeles and Oregon, while the Saturday affair will be televised on ESPNU.
