Softball Clinches Pac-12 Regular-Season Title With 12-1 Win at Arizona State
TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 7 UCLA softball team clinched its 13th Pac-12 regular-season championship with a 12-1 victory over Arizona State at Farrington Stadium Saturday evening.
With the win, the Bruins (33-10, 16-4 Pac-12) have secured the No. 1 seed in next week's Pac-12 Softball Tournament. UCLA homered a season-high five times in the contest, including two blasts by redshirt senior Maya Brady. All 12 of the Bruins' runs were driven in via the longball.
The Bruins blew the doors open on the game with a six-run seventh inning. The first two runs of the seventh were brought home on a rocket over the center field wall by Megan Grant. Singles by Jordan Woolery and Seneca Curo and a walk drawn by Janelle Meoño loaded the bases with two outs for Brady. For the second time of the night, Brady entered into a home run trot to bring the score to its final tally of 12-1.
Brady is now tied with Andrea Harrison (2009-12) with nine career multi-homer games. The homer also marked Brady's fifth grand slam as a Bruin.
Freshman Kaitlyn Terry went the distance and picked up a complete-game victory for the second day in a row. The Glendale, Ariz. local struck out five batters and allowed one run on five hits. Terry threw 101 pitches in her outing.
For the second straight game, UCLA had its leadoff batter reach base in each of the first four innings. The Bruins' best chance to score prior to the fourth was in the top of the third. Meoño beat out at an infield single to second base to open the inning. With two outs, Palacios hit a liner into left field and Meoño was tagged out at third on the play to put a stop to the rally.
Grant began the top of the fourth with a four-pitch walk. Woolery battled through a nine-pitch at-bat ending with an opposite field home run to right field to put UCLA on the board.
Brady made history in the top of the fifth with the 67th home run of her career, putting her into sole possession of second place in UCLA's record books. The Thousand Oaks, Calif. native moved out of tie with Stephany LaRosa. Stacey Nuveman (1997, 1999, 2001-02) sits comfortably in first place with 90 career home runs.
UCLA added three more runs in the sixth. Savannah Pola singled into center field and Curo walked to ignite the rally. UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez called upon Taylor Stephens off the bench to pinch hit. On a 1-1 count, Stephens deposited a three-run homer over the left field fence. Stephens now has two pinch-hit homers this season.
Inouye-Perez has won five Pac-10/12 regular-season championships in her head coaching career.
The Sun Devils recorded their first hit of the game in the bottom of the second inning on a one-out double. Terry answered with three straight strikes for a punchout and induced a 10-pitch foul out to Grant in right field.
Arizona State also threatened to score in the bottom of the fifth. Two singles and a fielding error by Grant put runners on the corners with one out. Sun Devils' leadoff hitter Audrey LeClair hit a comebacker to Terry who threw to Sharlize Palacios at home plate and caught the third base runner in a rundown. Palacios applied the tag and then chased down Arizona State's first base runner as she slid into third for the double play.
Arizona State's Alesia Denby logged her team's only run of the game with a solo shot to center field.
The Bruins go for the series sweep versus the Sun Devils tomorrow at 12 p.m. (PT) at Farrington Stadium. The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.