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LOS ANGELES - Seven of the Bruins' nine runs on Sunday scored via the long ball, as fifth-seeded UCLA hit three more homers to defeat Cal State Fullerton 9-1, winning the Los Angeles Regional at Easton Stadium and advancing to next weekend's Super Regionals.
UCLA (45-13) will host Ole Miss in the next round in a Thursday-Saturday Super Regional. The format remains best 2-of-3, but will feature one game per day, with the third day if necessary.
Redshirt freshman Rachel Garcia (20-7) struck out nine in a complete-game, six-hitter, allowing a run and no walks. She had 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth, retiring 11 in a row at one point. Garcia struck out at least one in every inning, including a pair in the sixth and seventh. The Bruins had 10 hits from seven different players, as junior Kylee Perez recorded three hits, while freshman Bubba Nickles added two.
UCLA, playing as the visiting team, scored twice in its first at-bat on one swing. With one out, Perez singled to center, and one out later, junior Madeline Jelenicki recorded her third homer of the Regional and 15th of the season on a shot to left field.
Cal State Fullerton (35-23) cut its deficit in half in the first on an RBI single by Zoe Richard, and had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the third after loading the bases. But Garcia got a strikeout to end the threat in what proved to be Fullerton's last scoring opportunity.
The score remained the same until the fifth when the Bruins broke it open with five runs. Sophomore Paige Halstead led off with a solo homer high over the fair pole in right field, her sixth of the season, to make it 3-1. Three consecutive singles by sophomore Zoe Shaw, senior Delaney Spaulding and Perez loaded the bases for sophomore Brianna Tautalafua, who belted a grand slam to right for her third weekend homer and 16th of the season to extend the lead to 7-1.
In the seventh, the Bruins added two more. With two outs and the bases loaded, Nickles doubled down the left-field line to plate sophomore Imani Johnson and freshman Jacqui Prober to make it 9-1.