Friday, May 19
Los Angeles, Calif.
8:30 PM
UCLA
43-13
8
vs
0
Lehigh
36-19
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
UCLA
0
0
4
2
2
8
10
1
Redshirt freshman Rachel Garcia struck out eight and faced just one over the minimum.
Garcia Tosses No-Hitter in Regional-Opening Win
May 19, 2017 | Softball
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LOS ANGELES -ย Redshirtย freshman Rachel Garciaย threw the first no-hitter of her career, the 15th in UCLA postseason history and the 109th for the softball program, as the fifth-seeded Bruinsย won their NCAA Regional opener on Friday with an 8-0, five-inning victory over Lehigh at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins (43-13) advance into the winner's bracket and will face San Jose State, which defeated Cal State Fullerton 3-0, on Saturday at 2 p.m. Lehigh (36-19) falls to the loser's bracket and will take on Fullerton at 4:30 p.m. in an elimination contest. The 2 p.m. loser and the 4:30 p.m. winner will also play at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.ย
Garcia (19-7) faced just one batter over the minimum, striking out eight in five innings. Her only baserunner allowed was a leadoff hit by pitch in the top of the second inning, as Garcia fanned three in the first and two each in the second and third. The no-hitter for the Bruins was the first since last year's Regional opener when Johanna Grauer notched the first of her career against CSU Bakersfield.
At the plate, the Bruins had 10 hits from seven different players, as senior Delaney Spaulding posted two hits with three RBI, while junior Madeline Jelenicki and sophomore Brianna Tautalafuaย each had two-hit, two-RBI contests.
After 2 1/2 scoreless innings, UCLA rallied to score four runs with two outs in the third. Spaulding got the scoring started with an opposite-field homer to right, her team-leading 15th of the season. Junior Kylee Perez followed with a single to right and scored on a Tautalafua double to center to make it 2-0. Jelenicki then smashed her 13th homer of the season to dead center to put the Bruins up 4-0.
The Bruins added two more runs with two outs in the fourth. Sophomore Paige Halstead drew a walk and was pinch-run for by freshman Jenna Crawford, who advanced to third following a single by sophomore Zoe Shaw and a fielding error in right field. After Shaw stole second, Spaulding doubled to right-center to plate both runners to make it 6-0.
UCLA invoked the mercy rule with two in the fifth. Tautalafua led things off with a homer to center, her 14th of the year, to make it 7-0. Jelenicki followed with a single to left and was pinch-run for by sophomore Imani Johnson, who moved to third on a double to right by senior Gabrielle Maurice and scored on a sacrifice fly to left from freshman Bubba Nickles to close out the 8-0 victory.
Saturday's matchup between the Bruins and the Spartans will be shown online at ESPN3.com, with free live audio also available at UCLABruins.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garcia, Rachel (19-7)
L: Campbell, Christine (22-6)
Base Running:
HBP: Lattanzio, Vicky 1
Batting:
2B: Spaulding, Delaney 1 ; Tautalafua, Brianna 1 ; Garcia, Rachel 1 ; Maurice, Gabrielle 1
HR: Spaulding, Delaney 1 ; Tautalafua, Brianna 1 ; Jelenicki, Madeline 1
RBI: Spaulding, Delaney 3 ; Tautalafua, Brianna 2 ; Jelenicki, Madeline 2 ; Nickles, Bubba 1
SF: Nickles, Bubba 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Spaulding, Delaney 1 ; Perez, Kylee 1 ; Tautalafua, Brianna 2 ; Jelenicki, Madeline 1 ; Johnson, Imani 1 ; Crawford, Jenna 1 ; Shaw, Zoe 1
SB: Shaw, Zoe 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
P/UTIL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/UTIL
/ SoftballC/1B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P/INF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballINF
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