Saturday, May 19
Los Angeles, CA
2:00 PM
UCLA
51-5
2
vs
3
Cal State Fullerton
35-23
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UCLA
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
2
9
2
Cal State Fullerton
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
8
1
Redshirt sophomore Rachel Garcia had two hits in both ends of Saturday's doubleheader.
Photo by: Rand Bleimeister
Bruins Lose, Then Win to Advance to Sunday
May 19, 2018 | Softball
UCLA Softball Twitterย |ย Facebookย |ย Instagram
LOS ANGELESย - The third-seeded Bruins took a circuitous route to Sunday's Regional Championship, bouncing back from a 3-2, nine-inning loss to Cal State Fullerton on Saturday afternoon by eliminating Texas State, 14-1 in five innings, in Saturday's nightcap at Easton Stadium.
UCLA moves to 52-5 on the season and will have a rematch with the Titans on Sunday. The Bruins will need to win twice (games at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.) to advance to the Super Regionals next weekend. ESPN3.com will air Sunday's action, with free live audio available on UCLABruins.com.
In game one against Cal State Fullerton (35-23), the Bruins had nine hits from eight different players, but left 12 on base. Redshirt sophomore Rachel Garcia had two hits and also pitched in relief. She fell to 22-3 on the season, but only gave up two unearned runs, six hits and one walk in 6 1/3 innings, striking out four. Freshman Holly Azevedo started and gave up a run and two hits in two-plus innings.
The Titans, who never trailed in the game, scored the contest's first run in the bottom of the third on an RBI fielder's choice grounder by Brooke Clemetson, scoring Shianneย Brannan.
In the top of the fourth, the Bruins tied things up. Senior Madeline Jelenicki singled to open the inning and was pinch-run for by junior Imani Johnson, who moved to second on a sacrifice by sophomore Bubba Nickles and scored on a Fullerton error following a single by junior Brianna Tautalafua.ย
Fullerton re-took the lead in the fifth on an RBI single by Sammie Vandiver, but the Bruins tied things again in the sixth. With the bases loaded and two outs, freshman Kinsley Washington drew a bases-loaded walk to score Jelenicki to make it 2-all.
The game would remain tied until the bottom of the ninth, as Brannan scored the winning run on a UCLA error to advance to Sunday's final.
In the nightcap, the Bruins found their bats against Texas State (43-16), as nine players combined for 14 hits. Garcia, Washington, senior Kylee Perez, junior Taylor Pack and freshman Briana Perez all had two-hit contests. In the circle, Garcia improved to 23-3, striking out seven in three innings and giving up one run, one hit and two walks. Azevedo tossed two frames of shutout relief, fanning two and allowing a hit and a walk.
A strange play got the Bruins two runs in the bottom of the first. UCLA loaded the bases on a Kylee Perez bunt single, a sacrifice-error to allow Briana Perez to reach and a walk to redshirt freshman Aaliyah Jordan. Garcia then lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate Kylee to make it 1-0. Briana advanced to third on the play, but Jordan got caught in a pickle between first and second. However, when the Bobcats over-rotated defensively, Jordan advanced to an uncovered second base, allowing Briana Perez to come home with the Bruins' second run.
Texas State got on the board in the second on an RBI single by Haleigh Davis, but the Bruins would break it open on two swings in a four-run third. With one out, Jordan homered to center, her 12th of the season, to make it 3-1. After singles for Garcia and Jelenicki, Nickles crushed a homer to right-center, her seventh of the year, to up the lead to 6-1.
UCLA brought the mercy rule into effect with eight runs in the fourth. Washington led off with an infield single and came home on a Kylee Perez double to make it 7-1. A Briana Perez single to right plated her sister with the Bruins' eighth run, with Perez taking third and Jordan getting to second after the redshirt freshman reached on a fielder's choice-error. With sophomore Stevie Wisz running for Jordan, both her and Briana came home on a double to right-center off the bat of Garcia to make it 10-1.
One out later, Nickles was hit by a pitch and Tautalafua singled to left to bring in Garcia with UCLA's 11th run. Pack added a single to center to bring in Nickles to make it 12-1, a Washington single to right brought in Johnson, who was running for Tautalafua, to increase the margin to 13-1, while a Briana Perez single to center scored redshirt senior Jelly Felix, who was running for Pack, to make it 14-1.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Parks, Trish (12-2)
L: Garcia, Rachel (22-3)
Batting:
RBI: Washington, Kinsley 1
SH: Nickles, Bubba 2 ; Tautalafua, Brianna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jelenicki, Madeline 1 ; Johnson, Imani 1
Batting:
2B: Ybarra, Bryanna 1 ; Brannan, Shianne 1
RBI: Clemetson, Brooke 1 ; Vandiver, Sammie 1
SH: Vandiver, Sammie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Clemetson, Brooke 1 ; Brannan, Shianne 2
SB: Clemetson, Brooke 1 ; Vandiver, Sammie 1 ; Whitmore, Kelsie 1
HBP: Valenzuela, Julia 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
1b/p
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
dp/lf
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
UTIL
/ SoftballP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballUCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Tennessee (June 1, 2025)
Sunday, June 01
UCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Texas Tech (May 31, 2025)
Saturday, May 31
Highlights - UCLA Softball vs. Oregon (May 29, 2025)
Thursday, May 29
UCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Oregon (May 29, 2025)
Thursday, May 29