#4 Bruins Walk Off With Win Over #7 LSU

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CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - After surrendering a three-run lead in the top of the seventh, the fourth-ranked Bruins walked off with a win over #7 LSU, defeating the Tigers 6-5 in eight innings on Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic II.
 
UCLA (13-2) had six hits as a team from five different players, as redshirt freshman Rachel Garcia posted a pair of singles. Garcia also earned the win in the circle to move to 6-2 on the year. She struck out all four batters she faced in 1 1/3 innings. Redshirt senior Paige McDuffee started and struck out two in four innings, giving up two runs and four hits. Junior Johanna Grauer tossed 2 2/3 frames of relief and fanned two, allowing three runs, three hits and two walks.
 
The Bruins scored on one swing of the bat in the bottom of the first. With two outs, freshman Bubba Nickles reached on an error, Garcia singled to center, sophomore Paige Halstead walked and senior Madeline Jelenicki launched a grand slam to left to put UCLA up by four. It was Jelenicki's team-best fifth homer of the season and second grand slam of 2017.
 
Solo homers by Amanda Doyle in the second and fourth innings cut the lead in half for LSU (12-2). The Bruins got their lead back up to three in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore Brianna Tautalafua led off with a double to center and was pinch-run for by sophomore Imani Johnson, who moved to third on a wild pitch. Senior Gabrielle Maurice then walked and stole second, while a walk to sophomore Zoe Shaw loaded the bases with nobody out. Two outs later, Maurice would score on a wild pitch to put UCLA up 5-2.
 
The Bruins held that lead until the seventh and got the first two outs, but two singles, a walk and a bases-clearing double tied the game, sending it to extra innings.
 
After Garcia struck out the side in the top of the eighth, Tautalafua was placed on second with the international tiebreaker rule. Maurice then deadened a bunt on the chalk line to move Tautalafua to third and the sophomore scored the game-winning run on an infield single by Shaw up gave the Bruins a 6-5 win.
 
The Bruins close out play at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic II on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. against #1 Florida State. Live stats will be available on UCLABruins.com, while live video for a fee will be on FloSoftball.com.