Bruins Open NCAA Tournament vs. CSUB
May 20, 2016 | Softball
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Friday, May 20
Game 1 - Cal State Fullerton (V) vs. Fresno State (H) - 3 p.m.
Game 2 - CSU Bakersfield (V) vs. #12-seed UCLA (H) - 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 21
Game 3 - Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - 12 p.m.
Game 4 - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser - 3 p.m.
Game 5 - Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner - 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 22
Game 6 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner - 12 p.m.
Game 7 - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (if necessary) - 3 p.m.
Regional Central Page (Links for Audio, Video and Stats)
ALL-REGION AND ALL-PAC-12 AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Thursday was awards day for the Bruins, as a total of six players were named to the NFCA All-West Region teams, while seven were recognized on the All-Pac-12 squads.
Senior outfielder Allexis Bennett was named First Team All-Region and All-Pac-12, as well as the regular-season batting champion and Pac-12 All-Defensive for the second year in a row. Joining Bennett on the list of those who were named both First Team All-Region and All-Pac-12 were senior third baseman Mysha Sataraka, junior shortstop Delaney Spaulding and sophomore second baseman Kylee Perez.
Sophomore Madeline Jelenicki gave the Bruins five First Team awards with the nod at catcher, while also earning All-Pac-12 Second Team accolades. Paige Halstead and Brianna Tautalafua were each named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, while Tautalafua (first base) was recognized on the NFCA All-Region Second Team.
The five First Team All-Region honors were the most for the Bruins since the 2002 squad, which also had five, while the four First Team All-Pac-12 plaudits equaled the best of any team in the league (Oregon).
Bennett leads the Bruins with a .437 batting average, 55 runs scored and 12 stolen bases, also ranking second with a .526 on base percentage and 29 walks, adding seven doubles and 22 runs batted in. The senior is 26th nationally in average, 30th in on base percentage and tied for 30th in runs scored, ranking first, third and third among conference players in those three categories, while also checking in at third in hits (69), tied for fifth in stolen bases and sixth in walks in the league. She enters the postseason on a nine-game hitting streak and has reached base in 16 consecutive contests. Bennett's 20 multiple-hit games leads the club. It was the second season in a row in which Bennett earned First Team honors from the NFCA and Pac-12, as well as her third all-league award (2014 Honorable Mention). She also earned her second straight All-Defensive honor, committing no errors in 72 chances.
Sataraka leads the team with a .759 slugging, a .563 on base percentage and 54 walks, is tied for first with four sacrifice flies, second with 50 runs batted in and 13 multi-RBI contests, tied for second with 12 home runs and third with a .371 batting average and 38 runs scored. Sataraka, who has reached base in 15 straight games, enters the postseason ranked fifth in the nation in walks, 11th in on base percentage, 37th in slugging and tied for 44th in sacrifice flies. Among league players, she is first in on base and walks, tied for third in sacrifice flies, fifth in RBI and sixth in slugging. The senior received her third All-Pac-12 award (2014 First Team, 2013 Honorable Mention) and her second All-Region honor (2014 Second Team).
Spaulding is tops on the squad with 14 home runs, 56 runs batted in and 15 multiple-RBI contests, adding a .342 batting average. She is also tied for first with nine doubles, second with 45 runs scored and a .685 slugging, tied for second with six stolen bases and third with 23 walks. Owner of a nine-game hitting streak heading into the postseason, Spaulding is tied for 29th in the country in RBI and tied for 48th in homers, ranking third and tied for fourth among Pac-12 players in those two categories to go with an eighth-place standing in total bases (102). Spaulding is 3-for-3 in All-Region and All-Pac-12 accolades in her career, receiving First Team honors from both last year and Second Team from each as a freshman.
Perez leads the squad with 11 sacrifice hits, is tied for first with nine doubles, second with a .410 batting average and seven hit by pitches, tied for second with six stolen bases and third with a .480 on base percentage, adding 34 runs scored, three home runs, 33 runs batted in, 14 walks and a .538 slugging. She has two separate, double-digit hitting streaks this season and is second on the team with 19 multiple-hit games and third with 11 multi-RBI contests. Perez is second in the Pac-12 and tied for 45th nationally in sacrifice hits, while also checking in at fifth in batting average in the conference and sixth in hits (64) and hit by pitches. She was named All-West Region Third Team as a freshman and All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention.
Jelenicki is tied for second on the team with 12 home runs and third with 48 runs batted in, also tying for first with four sacrifice flies and two triples. She ranks second on the squad with seven sacrifice hits, third with a .662 slugging and tied for third with eight doubles, adding a .331 batting average, 29 runs scored and 10 walks. Jelenicki is tied for third among Pac-12 players and tied for 44th nationally in sacrifice flies, tied for fourth in the league in triples, sixth in sacrifices and tied for seventh in RBI. She has been outstanding both offensively, with her 15 multiple-hit games (third on the team) and defensively, committing just one error in 198 chances (.995 fielding percentage). Jelenicki was named All-Pac-12 Freshman a year ago.
Tautalafua is batting .299 with seven home runs and 21 RBI, adding 12 runs scored and 12 walks. The freshman, who missed the first 21 games of the season due to injury, came on strong at the end of the regular season, recording three homers and nine RBI in her last five contests, including three multiple-hit games. Tautalafua earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on May 9 and was a two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.
Halstead is tied for first on the team with two triples and tied for third with eight doubles and two sacrifice flies, adding a .301 batting average, three home runs, 26 runs batted in, 17 runs scored and 10 walks. She has shown her versatility on the field, having played catcher, first base and right field this season, while offensively, Halstead was one of seven Bruins to hit over .300 during the regular season.
ON DECK
The winner of the Los Angeles Regional will advance to next weekend's Super Regional, facing the winner of the Eugene Regional, which features #5-seed Oregon, Baylor, Long Beach State and Fordham.
BRUINS IN THE POLLS
UCLA closed the regular season at 13th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings and 14th in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
BRUINS IN NCAA REGIONAL PLAY
UCLA is making its 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament (tied for the most in history with Fresno State) and holds a record of 190-50 (.792). During the Regional round, the Bruins are 87-14 (.861) and have gone undefeated 21 times, including each of the last two seasons. Since Regional play moved to a four-team format in 2005, the Bruins are 29-9 (.763), advancing to the Supers in '05, '06, '08, '09, '10, '14 and '15. UCLA is hosting an NCAA Regional for the 21st time and is 53-5 (.914) in 20 previous Regionals at Easton and 65-10 (.867) overall during postseason games in Westwood. The entire UCLA NCAA postseason history is available on the penultimate page of this release.
TEAM NOTES
Last season, UCLA set a school record with 28 double plays turned. The Bruins already have 10 more as they open the postseason, tying for the NCAA lead with Murray State with 38 twin killings ... UCLA has 15 comeback victories. The five-run comeback against Arizona State on April 30 was a season high. The Bruins also have four-run comebacks versus Arizona (April 25) and Stanford (April 9) and three-run comebacks versus Colorado State (Feb. 12), Cal State Fullerton (March 29), Oregon State (April 16) and Arizona State (April 29) ... a total of 33 of UCLA's 35 wins have come when it scores at least three runs ... the Bruins' victory against Oregon was their first series win versus the Ducks since 2010 ... UCLA won its fourth-straight series against Arizona ... the Bruins' tie against California on March 21 was just the fifth in school history, the first-ever draw in a conference contest for UCLA and the first tie since Feb. 18, 2000 versus Michigan ... UCLA is 19-0 when leading after five innings and 19-0 when up after six ... the Bruins are 26-4 when hitting at least one home run ... UCLA is 19-2 when not committing an error ... the Bruins are 26-3 when out-hitting their opponent ... UCLA has outscored its opponents in every inning but the sixth (35-34). Its largest margin is in the fifth when it has outscored its foes by 34 runs (66-32) ... the fifth inning is also the frame with the most home runs (17) ... the Bruins are 23-2 when holding their opponent to four runs or fewer.
PLAYER NOTES
Senior Allexis Bennett brings a nine-game hitting streak into the postseason, batting .419 (13-for-31) during that stretch with 11 runs scored and six RBI. Bennett has reached base in 16 in a row, producing hits in 15 of those contests. Seven of her team-best 20 multiple-hit games have come during her reached base streak ... freshman Paige Halstead has hits in seven of her last 10, batting .370 (10-for-27) during that stretch with a homer and four RBI. She tied a season high with three RBI on April 25 at Arizona, recording a two-run homer and an RBI single ... sophomore Madeline Jelenicki has hits in seven of her last eight, batting .435 (10-for-23) with three homers and 10 RBI. She has four hits, six RBI and six runs in her last three contests. Jelenicki tied career highs with two homers and five RBI on May 1 against Arizona State ... in each of the last six games in which junior Gabrielle Maurice has a hit, she has added another one to post a multiple-hit contest. In the last two games against ASU (April 30-May 1) and the first at Utah (May 6), she went 6-for-11 (.545) with six RBI, a triple and a home run. Since April 11, Maurice is batting .390 (16-for-41) with two homers and 11 RBI ... redshirt junior Paige McDuffee has been outstanding in relief this season. In seven appearances, she is 4-0 with a 1.09 earned run average and 10 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings ... sophomore Kylee Perez left the yard for the first time since February 21 when she homered in the regular-season finale at Utah. Since going hitless at Arizona, she is 8-for-17 (.471) with a homer and four RBI. Perez has reached base in 26 of her last 28 games ... senior Mysha Sataraka has reached base in 15 straight games and is batting .410 (16-for-39) during that stretch with five homers, 20 RBI and 16 runs. She has walked 15 times in those 15 contests, with nine of them coming in the last five games. Sataraka set a career high with four runs scored on May 6 at Utah, also driving in three ... freshman Zoe Shaw recorded her third multiple-hit game of the season on May 6, posting a pair of singles, scoring twice and stealing a base. In her last three contests, she is 3-for-5 (.600) with three runs scored ... junior Delaney Spaulding enters the postseason with a nine-game hitting streak, a stretch of 10 straight contests scoring a run and RBI in nine of her last 10. During her hitting streak, she is batting .433 (13-for-30) with five homers, 13 RBI and 13 runs. Spaulding hit a home run in each of her last six Pac-12 series' ... sophomore Selina Ta'amilo tossed her second complete-game shutout of the season on May 7 at Utah, hurling a three-hit, six-inning gem. She leads the team in wins with 17, picking up six of the Bruins' last seven victories ... freshman Brianna Tautalafua has reached base in 18 of her last 21 contests. Over her last five games, she is batting .412 (7-for-17) with three homers and nine RBI. Tautalafua ended the regular season with back-to-back games with two hits, a homer and four RBI at Utah.
BRUINS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
After leading the nation throughout most of the regular season in double plays turned, the Bruins enter the NCAA Tournament tied with Murray State for first in twin killings with 38. UCLA will re-take the lead with its next double play, as Murray State's season is over. Utah is three back of those two teams with 35 double plays. UCLA is also in the Top 40 in six other categories, ranking 13th in on base percentage (.428), 14th in slugging (.530), 16th in batting average (.330) and runs per game (6.67), tied for 35th in home runs (56) and 38th in fielding percentage (.970). Senior Mysha Sataraka is fifth in the nation in walks with 54, 11th in on base percentage (.563), 37th in slugging (.759) and tied for 44th with sophomore Madeline Jelenicki in sacrifice flies (4). Senior Allexis Bennett ranks 26th in batting average (.437), 30th in on base percentage (.526) and tied for 30th in runs scored (55), junior Delaney Spaulding is tied for 29th in RBI (56) and tied for 48th in home runs (14) and sophomore Kylee Perez is tied for 45th with 11 sacrifice hits.
BRUINS IN THE PAC-12 RANKINGS
UCLA enters the postseason ranked second among all Pac-12 teams in walks (195), tied for second in sacrifice hits (38) and third in batting average (.330), slugging (.530), on base percentage (.428), runs scored (327), runs batted in (299), hit by pitches (34) and fielding percentage (.970). Individually, senior Allexis Bennett is first in batting average (.437) and third in on base percentage (.526), runs scored (55) and hits (69). Senior Mysha Sataraka is first in on base percentage (.563) and walks (54) and tied for third with sophomore Madeline Jelenicki with four sacrifice flies. Junior Gabrielle Maurice is first with 12 hit by pitches, sophomore Kylee Perez is second in sacrifice hits (11), sophomore Johanna Grauer is tied for second with three saves and junior Delaney Spaulding is third with 56 runs batted in. A full list of the Bruins in the Pac-12 rankings can be found on page four of this release.
BRUINS VS. THE LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FIELD
The Bruins are 6-0 all-time against CSU Bakersfield, outscoring the Roadrunners 44-2 with three run-rules, with four of those wins coming at Easton Stadium. The teams have never met in the postseason ... UCLA is 44-11 versus Fresno State and 14-1 against the Bulldogs at Easton Stadium. A total of 16 matchups have come in the NCAA Tournament, with the Bruins holding a 13-3 record ... the Bruins are 42-33-1 against Cal State Fullerton, including a 5-4 victory on March 29. Selina Ta'amilo tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, retiring 16 of the 18 batters she faced. Offensively, UCLA had just six hits. The Bruins are 20-14-1 at home against the Titans and 12-4 in the NCAA Tournament.
TAUTALAFUA PAC-12 PLAYER & FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Nearly identical line scores helped Brianna Tautalafua pick up a pair of Pac-12 Conference awards on May 9, earning Player and Freshman of the Week honors.
Tautalafua ended her first regular season on a high note, going 4-for-7 (.571) with two home runs and eight RBI in a two-game sweep at #25 Utah. On May 6, the freshman went 2-for-4 with a homer and four runs batted in, posting an RBI single in the second inning before belting a three-run homer in the fifth to help the Bruins mercy the Utes, 15-7. Tautalafua would go 2-for-3 with a homer and four RBI an evening later, notching her RBI in the same way with an RBI single in the second and a three-run homer in the fifth, as UCLA won 8-0 in six innings.
The awards are the second and third of Tautalafua's career after being named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on April 4. UCLA earned its sixth and seventh weekly honors and its fourth conference Player of the Week. Senior Mysha Sataraka earned the award on May 2, as have junior Delaney Spaulding (March 14) and sophomore Kylee Perez (Feb. 23), while redshirt junior Paige McDuffee was Pitcher of the Week on April 4. UCLA has won 78 Pac-10/12 Player of the Week awards and two FOW honors in just the second year the award has been bestowed.
