Tinsley Twirls Masterpiece in Extra-Inning Win at Stanford
STANFORD – Taylor Tinsley struck out a career-high 15 batters to lead the No. 12 UCLA softball team to a 1-0 victory in nine innings against No. 5 Stanford at Smith Family Stadium Friday.
The Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez earned her 800th career win with tonight's result. Inouye-Perez joins her two predecessors and fellow UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist in the 800 win club.
Tinsley limited Stanford to just five hits and did not allow a walk to the 32 batters she faced. The Bruins' (25-9, 10-3 Pac-12) sophomore struck out the Cardinal's Ava Gall, Jade Berry and NiJaree Canady each three times.
Tonight marked UCLA's first extra-inning game in two years when UCLA defeated Stanford in game one of the series, 3-1, on April 8, 2022.
Tinsley's 15 strikeouts were the most by a Bruin since March 31, 2023, when Megan Faraimo punched out 15 Stanford batters. It was Tinsley's second double-digit strikeout performance of her career.
The Bruins broke through on Canady, the Pac-12 leader in ERA and strikeouts in the top of the ninth inning. On an 0-2 count, Megan Grant laced an opposite-field double off the top of the left-center field wall – a ball just inches away from being a home run – to lead off the inning. The next batter, Taylor Stephens, notched her second hit of the game with a single up the middle. Third base coach Kirk Walker waved Grant's pinch runner Liesl Osteen around third and to home plate. Osteen was initially tagged out on the play by catcher Aly Kaneshiro on the throw from Stanford center fielder Emily Jones. Inouye-Perez reviewed the call at home plate and obstruction was ruled on Kaneshiro which gave Stephens the go-ahead RBI.
Grant and Jadelyn Allchin joined Stephens as Bruins with multiple hits tonight.
Stanford's best scoring opportunities came in the first and seventh innings. The Cardinal led off the first with a single by Taryn Kern and a double by Jones to put two in scoring position with no outs. After Tinsley's first strikeout of the game, second baseman Seneca Curo fielded a ground ball and threw home to Sharlize Palacios who caught Kern in a rundown and applied the tag for the second out. Kyra Chan fouled out to Allchin in left field to end the inning.
Kaneshiro doubled to open the bottom half of the seventh and put the game-winning run in scoring position. Tinsley secured two quick outs on four pitches with weakly-hit pop ups and stuck out the final batter of the inning.
UCLA looks to secure the series victory over Pac-12 leader Stanford tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. (PT) at Smith Family Stadium. The games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.