The 10th homer of the season for redshirt junior Rachel Garcia was a magical one.
Photo by: Jazmine Sosa
Garcia Walks It Off, Sends Bruins to WCWS Championship Series
June 02, 2019 | Softball
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.ย - After 179 pitches thrown and 16 strikeouts in 10 scoreless innings, redshirt junior Rachel Garcia ended things with her bat, hitting a three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the second-seeded Bruins a 3-0 victory over No. 3 Washington, sending UCLA to the WCWSย Championship Series.
The WCWS Championship Series will get underway on Monday at 4:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN, as the Bruins will face Oklahoma.
Garcia (27-1) set a season high in strikeouts, giving up eight hits and four walks to extend her consecutive scoreless innings streak against Washington (52-9) to 35 innings. She struck out the side in the sixth and ninth and two apiece in the first, second and third, posting 1-2-3 frames in the second, third and 10th.
The Bruins (54-6) had eight hits from seven different players, as junior Bubba Nickles produced a pair.
Both teams had their chances in the first 9 1/2 innings, as the Huskies stranded 12 and the Bruins left eight. UCLA was spurred on by a couple of outstanding defensive plays, as freshman Kelli Godin made a diving catch in foul left field in the fifth inning, while senior Brianna Tautalafua went over the third-base dugout railing to make a grab in the 10th.
Washington left two runners on base in the sixth, seventh and ninth, and the bases loaded in the eighth. Garcia ended the threat in the sixth with back-to-back strikeouts, while ending the eighth and the ninth with strikeouts.
In the bottom of the 10th, Godin led off with an infield single, but one out later, she was erased on the second out of the inning when sophomore Briana Perez reached on a fielder's choice. Redshirt sophomore Aaliyah Jordan followed with a single to bring up Garcia, who cranked a 1-2 pitch out to left for her 10th homer of the season to send the Bruins to the finals.
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.ย - After 179 pitches thrown and 16 strikeouts in 10 scoreless innings, redshirt junior Rachel Garcia ended things with her bat, hitting a three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the second-seeded Bruins a 3-0 victory over No. 3 Washington, sending UCLA to the WCWSย Championship Series.
The WCWS Championship Series will get underway on Monday at 4:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN, as the Bruins will face Oklahoma.
Garcia (27-1) set a season high in strikeouts, giving up eight hits and four walks to extend her consecutive scoreless innings streak against Washington (52-9) to 35 innings. She struck out the side in the sixth and ninth and two apiece in the first, second and third, posting 1-2-3 frames in the second, third and 10th.
The Bruins (54-6) had eight hits from seven different players, as junior Bubba Nickles produced a pair.
Both teams had their chances in the first 9 1/2 innings, as the Huskies stranded 12 and the Bruins left eight. UCLA was spurred on by a couple of outstanding defensive plays, as freshman Kelli Godin made a diving catch in foul left field in the fifth inning, while senior Brianna Tautalafua went over the third-base dugout railing to make a grab in the 10th.
Washington left two runners on base in the sixth, seventh and ninth, and the bases loaded in the eighth. Garcia ended the threat in the sixth with back-to-back strikeouts, while ending the eighth and the ninth with strikeouts.
In the bottom of the 10th, Godin led off with an infield single, but one out later, she was erased on the second out of the inning when sophomore Briana Perez reached on a fielder's choice. Redshirt sophomore Aaliyah Jordan followed with a single to bring up Garcia, who cranked a 1-2 pitch out to left for her 10th homer of the season to send the Bruins to the finals.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garcia, Rachel (27-1)
L: Alvelo, Taran (26-5)
Batting:
2B: Helm, Emma 1

Batting:
2B: Nickles, Bubba 1
HR: Garcia, Rachel 1
RBI: Garcia, Rachel 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Perez, Briana 1 ; Jordan, Aaliyah 1 ; Garcia, Rachel 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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