UCLA
CSU Bakersfield
Grauer Throws No-No in Regional Opener
May 21, 2016 | Softball
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LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Johanna Grauer threw the first no-hitter of her career, the 14th in UCLA postseason history and the 108th for the softball program, as the 12th-seeded Bruins won their NCAA Regional opener on Friday with a 7-0 victory over CSU Bakersfield at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins improved to 36-13-1 overall and will face Cal State Fullerton in a winner's bracket game on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Roadrunners, who fell to 16-33, will play Fresno State in an elimination contest on Saturday at 3 p.m. The loser of Saturday's first game and the winner of the second contest will square off in another elimination tilt at 6 p.m.
Tickets for Saturday will be available starting at 10 a.m. at the Easton Stadium ticket office. All seats are general admission, first-come, first-served. Live video, audio and stats will be available at UCLABruins.com.
Grauer moved to 15-8 on the season, retiring the first 20 batters of the game before a two-out walk to Sydney Raeber in the seventh. She would strike out Selena Gonzalez for her fourth whiff of the evening to finish off the no-hitter. The no-no was the first for a Bruin pitcher in the postseason since Keira Goerl spun one on May 20, 2004 against Mississippi Valley State.
Offensively, the Bruins had six hits from five different players, as junior Gabrielle Maurice recorded a pair with four runs batted in.
It was a scoreless pitcher's duel for the first four and a half innings, as the Roadrunners' Amber Mills did not allow a baserunner until the third on a walk to freshman Zoe Shaw, while the first hit for the Bruins came on a single by junior Delaney Spaulding in the fourth.
In the fifth, a pair of homers gave the Bruins the lead. Sophomore Madeline Jelenicki belted the first pitch she saw over the wall in left, her 13th of the season, to put the home team on the board. Maurice followed with a double to right-center, and one out later, freshman Paige Halstead hit the first postseason homer of her career to right and her fourth of the year to make it 3-0.
UCLA scored four on one swing of the bat to extend its lead in the sixth. Spaulding, senior Mysha Sataraka and Jelenicki each drew walks to start off the inning and Maurice connected on her sixth homer of the season and the Bruins' fifth grand slam of the year to make it 7-0.
