UCLA
Arizona State
Sataraka Walks It Off Against ASU
April 30, 2016 | Softball
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LOS ANGELES - Trailing by three entering the bottom of the seventh, the 13th-ranked Bruins strung together four straight singles to open the inning and then had senior Mysha Sataraka walk things off with a three-run homer to left-center, as UCLA came back to defeat Arizona State, 8-6, at Easton Stadium on Friday.
The Bruins improved to 31-13-1 overall and 12-5-1 in Pac-12 action, staging their 14th comeback victory of the season. The Sun Devils fell to 27-20 and 3-13 in league play.
Sataraka left the yard twice to tie a career high and also equaled personal bests with five runs batted in and three hits. UCLA had 13 hits as a team from six different players, with senior Allexis Bennett and sophomore Kylee Perez recording three hits each and freshman Brianna Tautalafua adding two more.
In the circle, sophomore Selina Ta'amilo picked up the win to move to 14-5, striking out three in two innings and allowing two runs (one earned), two hits and one walk. Sophomore Johanna Grauer started and struck out two in five-plus innings, giving up four runs, seven hits and two walks.
The Bruins scored in their first at-bat, as Perez stroked a one-out double down the right-field line and came home on Sataraka's first homer of the game and 10th of the season, a shot to right-center, to make it 2-0.
Arizona State got on the board in the fourth on an RBI double by Katee Aguirre, but UCLA got that run right back in its half of the inning when Tautalafua crushed a 1-0 pitch over everything in left-center to put the Bruins back up 3-1. It was her fifth homer of the season.
The Sun Devils took their first lead of the game in the sixth on a two-run homer by Chelsea Gonzales and an Aguirre RBI single to go ahead 4-3. ASU added two runs of insurance in the sixth, scoring a pair on a UCLA throwing error and a Sashel Palacios RBI single to take a 6-3 lead to the Bruins' last at-bat.
UCLA opened the inning with a pinch-hit single to right off the bat of junior Jelly Felix, who was subbed out for freshman Zoe Shaw, who re-entered. After a bunt single by Bennett, Perez singled past the third baseman into left field to bring in Shaw to cut the deficit to 6-4. Two pitches later, junior Delaney Spaulding singled to left to plate Bennett to make it 6-5. Then on a 1-2 count, Sataraka ended the festivities with a three-run shot to left-center, her 11th of the season, to send the Bruins home a winner.
UCLA and Arizona State continue its three-game series on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Easton Stadium. Tickets go on sale and gates open at 4:30 p.m. All seats are first-come, first-served general admission. The game will air on Pac-12 Network Los Angeles and Arizona and will also feature live audio and stats on UCLABruins.com.
