UCLA
Arizona State
Jelenicki Homers Twice to Finish Sweep
May 01, 2016 | Softball
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LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Madeline Jelenicki tied a career high with two home runs and five runs batted in, as the 13th-ranked Bruins finished off a sweep of Arizona State with a 9-4 victory on Sunday at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins improved to 33-13-1 overall and 14-5-1 in Pac-12 play, while the Sun Devils fell to 27-22 and 3-15 in league action.
UCLA had 11 hits from eight different players, as junior Gabrielle Maurice and sophomore Kylee Perez joined Jelenicki with a two-hit game. In the circle, sophomore Selina Ta'amilo (16-5) picked up the win, tossing 5 1/3 innings of relief and allowing three runs, seven hits and one walk. Sophomore Johanna Grauer started and threw 1 2/3 innings, giving up a run, three hits and two walks.
The Bruins stormed out of the gate with a four-spot in the first thanks to one swing of the bat. Senior Allexis Bennett led off with a walk and Perez reached on an infield single. One out later, senior Mysha Sataraka walked to load the bases for Jelenicki, who belted her 11th homer of the season to right-center.
Arizona State got a run in the second on an RBI single by Taylor Becerra and added two more in the third on solo homers from Sashel Palacios and Katee Aguirre to get to within a run.
But UCLA would remain in the lead throughout the game, adding one in the bottom of the third. Jelenicki connected on her second homer and 12th of the season to left-center to make it 5-3.
The Bruins added two more in the fourth. Freshman Paige Halstead led off with an infield single to short and was pinch-run for by freshman Zoe Shaw, who moved to second on a sacrifice by junior Jelly Felix and scored on a Bennett double to left-center to put the Bruins up 6-3. Perez followed with a single to left-center to score Bennett to make it 7-3.
UCLA tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth. Jelenicki led off with a walk and was pinch-run for by freshman Imani Johnson. Two outs later, Shaw doubled to left, Felix walked and Bennett drew a bases-loaded free pass to extend the lead to 8-3. In the sixth, junior Delaney Spaulding led off with a homer, her team-best 13th of the season, to make it 9-3.
ASU scored a run in the seventh on an RBI ground out by Chelsea Gonzales, but the Bruins held on to sweep the Sun Devils.
The Bruins head to Salt Lake City next weekend to close out the regular season, facing Utah on Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. All times are Pacific and all three games will air on Pac-12 Networks.
