LOS ANGELES – Redshirt senior Aaliyah Jordan walked it off with a solo home run in her final regular-season at-bat at Easton Stadium, lifting the No. 2 UCLA softball team to a 4-3 victory over San Diego State.
It was the Bruins' (50-4, 21-3) second of two wins on Friday after they defeated Loyola Marymount, 6-0. Pitcher Megan Faraimo, who earned the win in each game, picked up the 100th victory of her career. She is the fourth player in UCLA history to reach the milestone.
Faraimo has now earned a win in each of her last 15 appearances dating back to the last week of March. She leads the nation with 28 wins this season.
Game 1: UCLA 6, Loyola Marymount 0
UCLA strung together six straight singles in the third inning to push across its first five runs of the game. Savannah Pola, Aaliyah Jordan, Anna Vines and Kennedy Powell each picked up an RBI on their hits. A double steal by Anna Vines and Lauryn Carter brought home another run in the inning.
Faraimo allowed just one hit and one runner to reach scoring position in her 5.0 innings of shutout ball. At one point across the third and fourth innings, Faraimo sent four consecutive batters down on strikes. She finished the game with six total punchouts.
Maya Brady, Megan Grant and Powell each finished with two hits. The freshman Powell led off the sixth with a single to left field and moved herself into scoring position with a stolen base. Another hit by fellow freshman Alexis Ramirez put two runners on the corners for Janelle Meoño who was able to advance Powell another 60 feet, scoring the Bruins' final run of the game.
Game 2: UCLA 4, San Diego State 3
The Aztecs tied the game up in the sixth inning with three-run home run off the bat of right fielder Ally Dueker. The UCLA bullpen of Taylor Tinsley and Faraimo kept San Diego State at bay in the seventh.
The seventh-year returner Aaliyah Jordan stepped to the plate in what would be her final regular-season at-bat in front of the home faithful. Jordan rose to the occasion and sent the Bruin fans home happy, sailing a ball high over the center field fence with one crack of the bat for a walk-off homer.
Jordan finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs batted in.
Meoño picked up her first two extra-base hits of the season with a double and triple. The speedy outfielder came around to score after her double in the second inning on an RBI single by Jordan.
Brady, who doubled in her first at-bat of game one, opened game two with another two-bagger in the first inning. She came around to score on a single to center field by Pola.
Brady closes the regular season with a .456 batting average, 56 runs batted in, 16 home runs and 12 doubles.
UCLA heads to Tucson, Ariz. next week to compete in the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament hosted at Hillenbrand Stadium from May 10-13. The Bruins clinched the No. 1 seed with their 12th Pac-12 regular season conference championship at Utah last week. As a result, UCLA receives a bye and will play the winner of the No. 8 seed-No. 9 seed matchup on Wednesday.
It was the Bruins' (50-4, 21-3) second of two wins on Friday after they defeated Loyola Marymount, 6-0. Pitcher Megan Faraimo, who earned the win in each game, picked up the 100th victory of her career. She is the fourth player in UCLA history to reach the milestone.
Faraimo has now earned a win in each of her last 15 appearances dating back to the last week of March. She leads the nation with 28 wins this season.
Game 1: UCLA 6, Loyola Marymount 0
UCLA strung together six straight singles in the third inning to push across its first five runs of the game. Savannah Pola, Aaliyah Jordan, Anna Vines and Kennedy Powell each picked up an RBI on their hits. A double steal by Anna Vines and Lauryn Carter brought home another run in the inning.
Faraimo allowed just one hit and one runner to reach scoring position in her 5.0 innings of shutout ball. At one point across the third and fourth innings, Faraimo sent four consecutive batters down on strikes. She finished the game with six total punchouts.
Maya Brady, Megan Grant and Powell each finished with two hits. The freshman Powell led off the sixth with a single to left field and moved herself into scoring position with a stolen base. Another hit by fellow freshman Alexis Ramirez put two runners on the corners for Janelle Meoño who was able to advance Powell another 60 feet, scoring the Bruins' final run of the game.
Game 2: UCLA 4, San Diego State 3
The Aztecs tied the game up in the sixth inning with three-run home run off the bat of right fielder Ally Dueker. The UCLA bullpen of Taylor Tinsley and Faraimo kept San Diego State at bay in the seventh.
The seventh-year returner Aaliyah Jordan stepped to the plate in what would be her final regular-season at-bat in front of the home faithful. Jordan rose to the occasion and sent the Bruin fans home happy, sailing a ball high over the center field fence with one crack of the bat for a walk-off homer.
Jordan finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs batted in.
Meoño picked up her first two extra-base hits of the season with a double and triple. The speedy outfielder came around to score after her double in the second inning on an RBI single by Jordan.
Brady, who doubled in her first at-bat of game one, opened game two with another two-bagger in the first inning. She came around to score on a single to center field by Pola.
Brady closes the regular season with a .456 batting average, 56 runs batted in, 16 home runs and 12 doubles.
UCLA heads to Tucson, Ariz. next week to compete in the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament hosted at Hillenbrand Stadium from May 10-13. The Bruins clinched the No. 1 seed with their 12th Pac-12 regular season conference championship at Utah last week. As a result, UCLA receives a bye and will play the winner of the No. 8 seed-No. 9 seed matchup on Wednesday.