Thursday, February 23
Cathedral City, Calif.
5:30 PM
UCLA
11-1
10
vs
5
Georgia
12-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Georgia
0
1
0
1
2
1
0
5
7
3
UCLA
2
1
1
0
0
6
X
10
7
2
Junior Kylee Perez had three hits in the nightcap versus North Carolina State.
#4 Bruins Come Back to Beat UGA, Down NC State
February 23, 2017 | Softball
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CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - The fourth-ranked Bruins scored six runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning against #11 Georgia to post a 10-5, comeback victory in Thursday's first game at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic II, and followed that up with an 8-3 win over North Carolina State.
In game one against Georgia, the Bruins had seven hits from five players, as senior Delaney Spaulding and sophomore Paige Halstead each posted a pair. Redshirt freshman Rachel Garcia (5-1) picked up the win in the circle, striking out seven in 4 2/3 innings of relief and giving up four runs (three earned), five hits and one walk. She struck out the side in the fifth and a pair in the third, recording a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh. Junior Johanna Grauer started and tossed 2 1/3 innings, allowing a run, two hits and four walks.
The Bruins (11-1) scored in their initial at-bat in the bottom of the first. Spaulding led off with a double to center and junior Kylee Perez reached on a bunt single. Two outs later, and after a walk to Halstead loaded the bases, junior Madeline Jelenicki dumped a single into left-center to plate a pair.
Georgia (12-2) cut its deficit in half in the second on an RBI double by Alysen Febrey, but UCLA got the run back in its half of the second. Senior Gabrielle Maurice led off with a walk, moved to second on a passed ball, advanced to third on an error and scored on a Spaulding sacrifice fly to left to make it 3-1.
The Bruins added another in the third. With one out, Garcia walked, Halstead singled and Jelenicki reached on an error to load the bases for sophomore Brianna Tautalafua, who flied out to deep center, which was still good enough to score a run to extend UCLA's lead to 4-1.
Georgia began to chip away with a run in the fourth on an RBI ground out by Brea Dickey. In the fifth, an RBI double by Mahlena O'Neal and an RBI single by Justice Milz evened the score at four. The Bulldogs then took their first lead of the game in the sixth on an RBI single by Sydni Emanuel.
In the bottom of the sixth, UCLA scored six unearned runs, all with two outs. Tautalafua led off by reaching on an error, advancing to second on the play. With sophomore Imani Johnson in as a runner, she moved to third on a Maurice sacrifice. One out later, Spaulding singled home Johnson to tie things at five. After Spaulding stole second and Perez walked, freshman Bubba Nickles singled to right to bring home Spaulding with the go-ahead run. Following a Nickles steal, a wild pitch brought home Perez to make it 7-5. Garcia then walked and Halstead launched a homer to right-center, her third of the season, to put the Bruins ahead 10-5.
In game two, UCLA (12-1) had 13 hits from 10 different players, including all nine starters. Perez tallied three hits, while Nickles added two. Junior Selina Ta'amilo improved to 3-0 on the season, striking out two in five innings and giving up two runs, seven hits and one walk. Redshirt senior Paige McDuffee threw two innings of relief, fanning three and allowing one unearned run and two hits, posting a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and two strikeouts in the fifth.
One swing of the bat gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Garcia led off with a single and was pinch-run for by freshman Jacqui Prober. Halstead doubled to right, and one out later, Tautalafua tied for the team lead in homers with her fourth, a line drive blast to left.
North Carolina State (3-8) got one back in the third on an RBI triple by Jade Caraway, but the Bruins responded with three in their half of the third. Spaulding led off with a double and moved to third on a Perez bunt single. After Perez stole second, Nickles singled through the 5-6 hole to plate Spaulding and put the Bruins up 4-1. Nickles then swiped second and Prober followed with a single through the 3-4 hole to bring in Perez and Nickles to make it 6-1.
The Wolfpack cut their deficit to 6-2 on an RBI single in the fifth by Jessica Moore, but the Bruins added two in the bottom of the fifth. UCLA loaded the bases when Halstead reached on a one-out error, Jelenicki singled and Tautalafua walked. Maurice followed with a double to left-center to score freshman Jenna Crawford, who was running for Halstead, and Jelenicki to make it 8-2.
An RBI grounder by Moore in the seventh would make it 8-3, but the Bruins held on for the five-run win.
The Bruins are back in action on Friday, taking on #4 Oklahoma at 5:30 p.m. Live stats will be available at UCLABruins.com, while live video for a fee will be available at FloSoftball.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garcia, Rachel (5-1)
L: Avant, Mary Wilson (1-1)
Batting:
2B: McGuire, Maeve 1 ; Febrey, Alysen 1 ; O'Neal, Mahlena 1
3B: Bryan, Ciara 1
RBI: Emanuel, Sydni 1 ; Febrey, Alysen 1 ; O'Neal, Mahlena 1 ; Milz, Justice 1 ; Dickey, Brea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DiCarlo, Alyssa 1 ; McGuire, Maeve 1 ; O'Neal, Mahlena 1 ; Bryan, Ciara 1 ; Dickey, Brea 1
SB: Emanuel, Cortni 1
CS: Emanuel, Cortni 1
HBP: DiCarlo, Alyssa 1 ; Sumerlin, Lacey 1
Batting:
2B: Spaulding, Delaney 1
HR: Halstead, Paige 1
RBI: Spaulding, Delaney 2 ; Nickles, Bubba 1 ; Halstead, Paige 3 ; Jelenicki, Madeline 2 ; Tautalafua, Brianna 1
SH: Maurice, Gabrielle 1
SF: Spaulding, Delaney 1 ; Tautalafua, Brianna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Spaulding, Delaney 2 ; Perez, Kylee 2 ; Nickles, Bubba 1 ; Garcia, Rachel 1 ; Crawford, Jenna 1 ; Halstead, Paige 1 ; Johnson, Imani 1 ; Maurice, Gabrielle 1
SB: Spaulding, Delaney 1 ; Perez, Kylee 1 ; Nickles, Bubba 1 ; Crawford, Jenna 1
HBP: Spaulding, Delaney 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
P/UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballINF
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