Bruins Advance to Super Regionals

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A five-spot in the third inning was enough for the 12th-seeded Bruins in the Regional Championship game on Sunday, as UCLA defeated Cal State Fullerton, 5-4, to advance to next weekend's Super Regionals.

The Bruins, who improved to 38-13-1 and notched their 16th-comeback victory of the season, will face #5-seed Oregon in next weekend's Super Regionals, which will be played on Saturday and Sunday in Eugene. The best 2-of-3 series starts on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN and continues on Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The if necessary game will also be played on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

UCLA had six hits, with five of them coming from the top four in the lineup. Cleanup hitter and senior Mysha Sataraka had two hits, while the 1-2-3 batters of senior Allexis Bennett, sophomore Kylee Perez and junior Delaney Spaulding had one each. The other UCLA base knock came from freshman Paige Halstead. 

All three pitchers saw action in the circle for the Bruins, with sophomore Selina Ta'amilo picking up the win to move to 18-5 on the season. She struck out three in four innings, giving up one run, seven hits and two walks. Redshirt junior Paige McDuffee earned her second save of the year, retiring all five batters she faced in 1 2/3 frames of relief. Sophomore Johanna Grauer started and struck out one in 1 1/3 innings, giving up three runs, three hits and one walk.

Cal State Fullerton (45-16) got on the board in the top of the second on a two-run double by Delynn Rippy and an RBI single off the bat of Missy Taukeiaho to make it 3-0.

After being retired in order in their first seven at-bats, the Bruins rallied with five in the third. With two outs and freshman Zoe Shaw at second after reaching on a fielder's choice and Bennett at first following a bunt single, Perez blooped a single just inside fair territory in left field to plate Shaw to make it 3-1. 

Spaulding then gave the Bruins the lead with her third homer of the weekend, connecting on the first pitch she saw to left-center for her team-best 17th of the year. Four pitches later, Sataraka made it 5-3 UCLA with a solo shot to right-center, her 13th jack of the season.

Fullerton left a pair on base in the fourth and one more in the fifth before getting to within a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Alexis Gonzalez. The bases were loaded with one out when McDuffee replaced Ta'amilo in the circle and the redshirt junior wriggled out of the jam by inducing a fielder's choice grounder and a fly out to keep it a one-run game. The Titans went 1-2-3 in the seventh, as the Bruins advanced to the Super Regionals.