Five for Friday: Homer Happy Bruins Bash Beavers
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2014 UCLA Softball Media Guide
LOS ANGELES - The second-ranked Bruins scored all nine of their runs on Friday via the long ball, as junior Stephany LaRosa hit two home runs and junior Ally Carda and sophomores Brittany Moeai and Mysha Sataraka also went deep in UCLA’s 9-1, six-inning victory over Oregon State at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins improve to 38-4 overall and 11-3 in Pac-12 play, while the Beavers fall to 13-25 and 3-12 in league action.
Five of UCLA’s nine hits went over the fence, as LaRosa, Moeai and sophomore Allexis Bennett each had two hits.
Senior Jessica Hall struck out seven in six innings to move to 13-2 on the year. She allowed a run, four hits and two walks. Hall struck out the side in the first and added two strikeouts in the fifth. She had 1-2-3 innings in the second, fourth and fifth.
Oregon State struck first in its initial at-bat. Kori Nishitomi and Ya Garcia were walked to open the game and Dani Gilmore followed with a double down the right-field line to plate Nishitomi with the contest’s first run. But Hall worked her way out of the third and second, no out jam by striking out the next three to end the threat.
UCLA got the run back and another in the bottom of the first. With one out, freshman Delaney Spaulding walked, stole second and came home on LaRosa’s first homer of the game to left-center, her 10th of the season, to make it 2-1.
The Bruins came up with solo shots in the fourth and fifth. Moeai led off the fourth with her second of the season to right to make it 3-1. In the fifth, Sataraka notched a two-out homer to right, her team-leading 12th of the year, to extend the advantage to 4-1.
In the sixth, UCLA invoked the mercy rule for the 11th time this season. Moeai singled up the middle to open the inning and was pinch-run for by junior Jessica Amaral. Senior Alyssa Tiumalu then laid down a sacrifice in front of the circle, but OSU pitcher Melanie Dembinski bobbled it and threw low to first, allowing Amaral to take third and Tiumalu to reach second. With freshman Robyn Corruth running for Tiumalu, junior Gracie Goulder drew a walk to load the bases.
Bennett followed with a tapper to the circle, as Dembinski came home to force Amaral for the first out of the inning. Next up was Carda, who crushed her seventh homer of the season and third grand slam of the year to right, to make it 8-1. One out later, LaRosa ended the festivities, sending her second homer of the game and 10th of the season over the wall in right to wrap up a 9-1 victory.
The Bruins and the Beavers conclude their three-game series on Saturday at 12 p.m. The game is sold out. Free audio and live stats will be available on UCLABruins.com.