#7 Bruins Rally to Defeat #10 Missouri in Game One of Supers

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LOS ANGELES - The seventh-seeded Bruins rallied from three runs down to take Game 1 of the Los Angeles Super Regional on Saturday at Easton Stadium, defeating #10 Missouri 7-4.

The Bruins improve to 49-10 and are one win away from a trip to Oklahoma City and the Women's College World Series. The Tigers (42-15) will need to beat UCLA twice on Sunday to win the L.A. Super Regional.

Sunday's first game starts at 12 p.m., followed by the if necessary game at 3 p.m. Both contests will be televised on ESPNU. Tickets go on sale starting at 9:30 a.m. ($12 adults/$8 children) at Easton Stadium. All seats are general admission, first come first served.

Senior Ally Carda won her 30th game of the season, striking out three and allowing four runs, eight hits and two walks in the complete game. She had 1-2-3 innings in the second, fourth and sixth.

The Bruins had eight hits at the plate from seven different players, as junior Mysha Sataraka picked up the lone multi-hit contest with a solo homer and a single.

UCLA got on the board in its first at-bat. Sophomore Delaney Spaulding led off with a single to the 5-6 hole, moved to second on a grounder by junior Allexis Bennett, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single up the middle by Carda.

A pair of homers in the third gave Missouri the lead, as Natalie Fleming led off the inning with one to left and a three-run shot by Sami Fagan to right-center put the Tigers ahead 4-1. But Carda settled down after that, limiting Missouri to just four baserunners after the third inning.

The Bruins used a two-out rally to tie up the game in their half of the third. Bennett chopped a single to third and Carda walked, which was followed by a LaRosa single through the 5-6 hole to bring in Bennett to make it 4-2. Freshman Maddy Jelenicki then doubled to left-center to bring in Carda and LaRosa to even the score at four.

In the fourth, a leadoff homer by Sataraka on the first pitch of the inning put the Bruins ahead. It was the junior's sixth bomb of the season. One out later, freshman Kylee Perez bunted for a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. A walk to Spaulding, and one out later, a free pass to Carda, loaded the bases for LaRosa, who also took four wide ones to extend the Bruins' lead to 6-4.

In the fifth, a pair of Missouri errors and a sacrifice by senior Gracie Goulder put a pair of runners in scoring position. A walk to Perez loaded the bases, and after a fielder's choice grounder forced a runner at home for the second out of the inning, Bennett drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in senior Sam Duran to make it 7-4.