UCLA
Oregon
Bruins Take Two, Advance to WCWS
May 30, 2016 | Softball
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EUGENE, Ore. - Needing to win twice on Sunday, the 12th-seeded Bruins did just that, coming back to beat #5-seed Oregon, 2-1, in nine innings in the first game before winning by the same 2-1 score in the nightcap to advance to the Women's College World Series for the 26th time in school history.
The Bruins improved to 40-14-1 and will play #4-seed Auburn in a rematch of last year's WCWS. Game time will be at 11:30 a.m. PT/1:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN. Oregon concludes its season at 48-10.
In game one, the Bruins recorded their 17th-comeback victory of the season. Sophomore Selina Ta'amilo (19-5) was masterful in the circle, striking out seven in a career-high nine innings and giving up just one run, four hits and one walk. Offensively, UCLA had nine hits from seven different players, as seniors Allexis Bennett and Mysha Sataraka each had a pair of hits.
Oregon, playing as the visiting team, struck first in the first two batters of the game, as Jenna Lilley led off with a triple down the right-field line and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nikki Udria. But the Ducks were held in check by Ta'amilo from that point on, as the sophomore retired 16 of the next 17 following Lilley's triple.
UCLA didn't have a runner get past second until the bottom of the seventh when some Bruin Magic struck. With one out, junior Gabrielle Maurice belted her seventh homer of the season to right-center to square the game at one.
After a scoreless eighth for both teams and a zero in the top of the ninth for the Ducks, the Bruins walked it off in the bottom of the ninth. Sataraka led off with her second double of the game down the left-field line, moved to third on a sacrifice by freshman Brianna Tautalafua and scored on a single to left by sophomore Madeline Jelenicki to send UCLA and Oregon to the if necessary game.
In said game, the Bruins scored in their first at-bat and held on for the one-run win. UCLA had three hits, with two of them coming from Sataraka. Redshirt junior Paige McDuffee (6-1) was once again stellar in relief, tossing 6 2/3 and striking out one, allowing a run, four hits and one walk. She had a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the second and fourth. Ta'amilo started and gave up two hits in a third of an inning.
UCLA scored an unearned run in the first. Bennett led off with a walk, and two outs later, Sataraka singled to left-center. When Koral Costa's throw to try and get Bennett at third sailed into the dugout, Bennett scored the Bruins' first run. Oregon would end up stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the first.
In the fourth, a leadoff walk by junior Delaney Spaulding and a double to the left-center field gap by Sataraka gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
The score held up until the bottom of the seventh when Lilley had an RBI double to score Danica Mercado to make it 2-1. But a foul out to left off the bat of Udria finished off the 2-1 win to send the Bruins back to Oklahoma City.
