UCLA
Cal State Fullerton
Home Runs Key Win Over Fullerton
May 21, 2016 | Softball
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LOS ANGELES - Junior Delaney Spaulding had a two-homer game for the third time in her career, while sophomore Kylee Perez added another solo shot to give the 12th-seeded Bruins six round-trippers on the weekend, as UCLA defeated Cal State Fullerton, 3-2, on Saturday at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins improved to 37-13-1 overall and will play in the Los Angeles Regional title game on Sunday at 12 p.m. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. at the Easton Stadium ticket office.
Spaulding and Perez combined for three of the Bruins' five hits, with singles by freshmen Paige Halstead and Brianna Tautalafua accounting for the other hits. In the circle, redshirt junior Paige McDuffee moved to 5-0 with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out one and giving up two hits and one walk. Sophomore Selina Ta'amilo started and struck out two in 4 2/3 frames, allowing two runs (one earned), three hits and one walk.
Playing as the visiting team, the Bruins scored first in their initial at-bat, as Perez connected on a 2-2 pitch to right-center for her fourth homer of the season.
The Titans (44-15) tied things up in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Courtney Rodriguez, but the first batter of the top of the fourth gave the Bruins the lead back, as Spaulding roped her first homer of the game and 15th of the season to right-center to make it 2-1 UCLA.
In the bottom of the fifth, an 11-pitch at-bat resulted in an RBI single for Missy Taukeiaho to even things at two, but again, it was Spaulding to the rescue in the sixth. Again leading off, the junior went the opposite way for a second time for her 16th of the season to make it 3-2.
The Titans looked to have a rally going in the bottom of the sixth, but it was thwarted by senior Allexis Bennett. Following a leadoff single by Melissa Sechrest, Rodriguez singled up the middle, but Bennett came up with a seed to third to nail Sechrest for the first out of the inning. McDuffee would get out of the sixth with a strikeout and got three ground outs in the seventh to finish the victory.
