#12 Bruins Open WCWS Against #4 Auburn
June 01, 2016 | Softball
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Thursday, June 2
G1-#16-seed Georgia vs. #8-seed Florida State (ESPN) 9 a.m.
G2-#12-seed UCLA vs. #4-seed Auburn (ESPN) 11:30 a.m.
G3-#6-seed Alabama vs. #3-seed Oklahoma (ESPN2) 4 p.m.
G4-#10-seed LSU vs. #2-seed Michigan (ESPN2) 6:30 p.m.
Friday, June 3
G5-Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 (ESPN2) 4 p.m.
G6-Winner G3 vs. Winner G4 (ESPN2) 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 4
G7-Loser G1 vs. Loser G2 (ESPN) 9 a.m.
G8-Loser G3 vs. Loser G4 (ESPN) 11:30 a.m.
G9-Loser G6 vs. Winner G7 (ESPN2) 4 p.m.
G10-Loser G5 vs. Winner G8 (ESPN2) 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 5
G11-Winner G5 vs. Winner G9 (ESPN) 10 a.m.
G12-Winner G6 vs. Winner G10 (ESPN) 12:30 p.m.
*G13-Winner G11 vs. Loser G11 (ESPN2) 4 p.m.
*G14-Winner G12 vs. Loser G12 (ESPN2) 6:30 p.m.
Monday, June 6
Championship Finals Game 1 (ESPN) 5 p.m.
Tuesday, June 7
Championship Finals Game 2 (ESPN) 5 p.m.
Wednesday, June 8
*Championship Finals Game 3 (ESPN) 4 p.m.
All Times Pacific
*if necessary
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UCLA OPENS WCWS WITH REMATCH AGAINST AUBURN
The 12th-seeded Bruins will begin their 2016 Women's College World Series against the same team that ended their 2015 WCWS, as UCLA takes on #4-seed Auburn on Thursday in the opening round in Oklahoma City. Game time is at 11:30 a.m. PT/1:30 p.m. CT and the contest will be aired live on ESPN.
ALL-REGION AND ALL-PAC-12 AWARDS ANNOUNCED
May 19 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).
All-American teams will be announced on Wednesday.
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 AT THE WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
UCLA is making its 26th appearance in the Women's College World Series and its second-straight trip. The Bruins, who are making their 32nd overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, have a 195-51 postseason record (.793 winning percentage, 91-31 at the WCWS, 14-6 in Supers, 90-14 in Regionals). UCLA has won 11 NCAA Championships ('82, '84, '85, '88, '89, '90, '92, '99, '03, '04, '10). The Bruins have advanced to the championship game or series in 18 of their 25 WCWS appearances. UCLA won its eighth Super Regional last weekend in Eugene, and for just the second time, won twice on the final day to advance (2005 vs. Georgia). The entire UCLA NCAA postseason history is available on the page 19 of this release.
TWIN KILLINGS
With five double plays turned last weekend, the Bruins now have a school-record and NCAA-best 44 on the season. UCLA had three twin killings on Saturday at Oregon and a pair in the Super Regional clincher on Sunday. It was the fourth time this season the Bruins turned three double plays in one game (March 26 vs. Washington; April 2 at Oregon; May 6 at Utah). The 44 double plays, 16 more than last year when a new school record was set, is sixth in NCAA history for a single season.
COMEBACK KIDS
The second game of the Eugene Super Regional featured the Bruins' 17th-comeback victory of the season, as a one-out, solo homer in the bottom of the seventh by junior Gabrielle Maurice spurred on an eventual 2-1, nine-inning win. This postseason, UCLA also came back from an early 3-0 deficit in the Regional Championship over Cal State Fullerton. A five-run comeback against Arizona St. 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 St. (Feb. 12), Fullerton (March 29), Oregon St. (April 16) and ASU (April 29).
MORE NOTES
A total of 15 of UCLA's 20 runs during the postseason have come via the home run, including 14 of 15 during the Regional round ... the Bruins' two Super Regional wins were just the third and fourth times this season they have won when scoring one or two runs. A total of 36 of UCLA's 40 wins have come when it scores at least three runs ... the Bruins' regular-season series victory against Oregon was their first Pac-12 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 22-0 when leading after five innings and 23-0 when up after six ... the Bruins are 30-4 when hitting at least one home run ... UCLA is 21-2 when not committing an error ... the Bruins are 28-3 when out-hitting their opponent ... UCLA has outscored its opponents in every inning. Its largest margin is in the fifth when it has outscored its foes by 34 runs (69-35) ... the fifth inning is also the frame with the most home runs (19) ... the Bruins are 28-2 when holding their opponent to four runs or fewer.
PLAYER NOTES
Senior Allexis Bennett has reached base in 20 of her last 22 games, producing hits in 18 of those contests. She carried a nine-game hitting streak into the postseason, but was held to just one hit in 10 at-bats during the Regional round. However, Bennett bounced back with three hits in nine at-bats (.333) last weekend in Eugene, including her team-best, 21st multiple-hit game in game two of the Super Regional ... junior Jelly Felix recorded her second, pinch-hit single on May 20 against CSU Bakersfield, as she also has three walks as a pinch-hitter ... sophomore Johanna Grauer threw the first no-hitter of her career, the 14th in UCLA postseason history and the 108th for the softball program in the Regional opener versus CSU Bakersfield. It was the first no-no for a Bruin pitcher in the postseason since Keira Goerl spun one on May 20, 2004 against Mississippi Valley State. Grauer struck out four and retired the first 20 batters of the game before a two-out walk in the seventh ... freshman Paige Halstead has hits in 11 of her last 16, batting .318 (14-for-44) during that stretch with two homers and six RBI. She had a hit in all three games at Regionals, including a two-run homer versus Bakersfield, adding singles the next two days. Halstead tied a season high with three RBI on April 25 at Arizona ... sophomore Madeline Jelenicki recorded the Bruins' fourth, walk-off win (non-mercy rule) in the second game of the Eugene Super Regional with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning. She has hits in nine of her last 14, batting .315 (12-for-38) with four homers and 12 RBI. Jelenicki hit her 13th homer of the season to jump-start the Bruins' offense on May 20 against Bakersfield ... two outs from elimination, junior Gabrielle Maurice came up with the biggest hit of her career, belting a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to tie game two of the Eugene Super Regional, with UCLA eventually winning 2-1 in nine innings. She has left the yard in both postseason weekends after hitting the Bruins' fifth grand slam (three Delaney Spaulding, one Jelenicki) versus Bakersfield. Since April 11, Maurice is batting .339 (20-for-59) with four homers and 16 RBI ... redshirt junior Paige McDuffee has been outstanding in relief this season. Taking away a rough outing in game one of the Super Regional, in 10 appearances she is 6-0 with two saves, a 0.93 earned run average and 12 strikeouts in 30 innings. After tossing four scoreless in relief in the Regional round, McDuffee threw 6 2/3 out of the bullpen in the Super Regional clincher, tying a season-high relief stint, which also came at Oregon (April 3) ... the two at-bats for freshman Taylor Pack in Sunday's second game were her first plate appearances since April 13 against CSUN ... after going 38 games without a home run, sophomore Kylee Perez left the yard twice in three games against Utah (May 7) and Cal State Fullerton (May 21). Since going hitless at Arizona, Perez is 11-for-36 (.306) with two homers and six RBI, having reached base in 29 of her last 34 games ... senior Mysha Sataraka was the top hitter for the Bruins last weekend, going 4-for-8 (.500) with three doubles, including a pair of two-hit games on Sunday. She scored the game-winning run in the Bruins' first victory and drove in what proved to be the game winner in the nightcap with an RBI double in the fourth. Sataraka has reached base in 21 straight and is batting .407 (22-for-54) during that stretch with six homers, 22 RBI and 18 runs ... freshman Zoe Shaw recorded her third multiple-hit game of the season on May 6 at Utah, posting a pair of singles, scoring twice and stealing a base ... junior Delaney Spaulding saw her hitting streak end at 14 games in last weekend's Super Regional clincher, but that streak tied a career high, as she batted .422 (19-for-45) with eight homers, 18 RBI and 17 runs. She leads the Bruins with three homers and five RBI (tied for lead) in the postseason, batting .375 (6-for-16). Spaulding has also scored a run in 14 of her last 16 and posted an RBI in 11 of her last 16 ... sophomore Selina Ta'amilo pitched a masterpiece in game two of the Eugene Super Regional, striking out seven in a career-best nine innings and giving up only one run and four hits in the 2-1 triumph. The team leader in victories with 19, she has picked up eight of the Bruins' last 12 wins. Ta'amilo is 2-0 in the postseason with a 1.27 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 22 innings ... freshman Brianna Tautalafua has reached base in 23 of her last 27 contests. Over her last 11 games, she is batting .313 (10-for-32) with three homers and nine RBI. Tautalafua singled in each of the first two games of the Super Regional, also drawing a walk in the first contest.
BRUINS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
The Bruins were back and forth with Utah all last weekend, but with five more double plays, UCLA leapfrogged its Pac-12 foe in twin killings with 44, three ahead of the Utes. The only other team still alive in the postseason and with at least 30 is Auburn, which is fourth with 36. UCLA is also in the top 30 in five other categories, ranking 16th in slugging (.519), tied for 16th in home runs (65), 18th in on base percentage (.416), tied for 19th in runs per game (6.31) and 27th in batting average (.319). Senior Mysha Sataraka is fourth in the nation in walks with 59, 10th in on base percentage (.561), 32nd in slugging (.763) and tied for 48th in sacrifice flies (4) with sophomore Madeline Jelenicki. Junior Delaney Spaulding is tied for 17th with 61 runs batted in and tied for 22nd with 17 home runs, senior Allexis Bennett is tied for 31st with 57 runs scored and sophomore Kylee Perez is tied for 48th with 11 sacrifice hits.
BRUINS IN THE PAC-12 RANKINGS
UCLA enters the Women's College World Series ranked second among all Pac-12 teams in walks (212), third in batting average (.319), slugging (.519), on base percentage (.416), runs scored (347), runs batted in (317) and sacrifice hits (43) and tied for third in hit by pitches (35). Individually, senior Mysha Sataraka is first in on base percentage (.561) and walks (59) and third in slugging (.763), while senior Allexis Bennett is second in batting average (.412), tied for second in hits (73), third in runs scored (57) and tied for third in on base percentage (.500). Junior Delaney Spaulding is third in runs batted in (61) and tied for third in home runs (17), junior Gabrielle Maurice is first in hit by pitches (12) and sophomore Johanna Grauer is tied for second with three saves. A full list of the Bruins in the Pac-12 rankings can be found on page four of this release.
UCLA AGAINST THE WCWS FIELD
This season, the Bruins have played five of the other seven teams traveling to Oklahoma City. UCLA beat Georgia, 14-6 in five innings, on Feb. 26 in Cathedral City, Calif. The Bruins have lost to LSU (10-5 in Cathedral City on Feb. 21), Oklahoma (11-7 in Cathedral City on Feb. 27), Michigan (8-6 at Easton Stadium on March 2) and Florida State (3-0 at Easton on March 4). Recaps, box scores and all-time series' lists versus the seven teams joining UCLA in Oklahoma City, as well as how the Bruins fared against Auburn and Michigan at last year's WCWS, can be found on pages 16-18 of this release.
