No. 2 Bruins Run Rule Cal State Fullerton
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LOS ANGELES - Junior Holly Azevedo struck out four in five innings, while the second-ranked Bruins recorded 10 hits from seven different players in a 9-1, five-inning victory over Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday at Easton Stadium.
Azevedo (2-0) allowed just one run, three hits and two walks. She had a 1-2-3 fourth inning and fanned one in each of her last four frames.
Juniors Aaliyah Jordan and Kinsley Washington and sophomore Kelli Godin all had two-hit contests, with Washington driving in a pair. Freshman Maya Brady drove in three runs.
Cal State Fullerton (9-8) got on the scoreboard in its first at-bat, but UCLA (9-1) tallied four in its initial time up. Senior Bubba Nickles led off with a single up the middle and junior Briana Perez walked, with Jordan following with an RBI single up the middle to score Nickles. After Perez was forced out at home, Brady doubled to left-center to score Jordan to make it 2-1. One out later, freshman Alyssa Garcia was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Washington, who doubled to left-center to score junior Delanie Wisz and Brady to put the Bruins up 4-1.
In the second, Perez led off with a walk, stole second and scored three batters later on a single to right by sophomore Anna Vines to make it 5-1.
UCLA tacked on one more in the fourth. Jordan led off with a single, and was pinch-run for by freshman Lauryn Carter, who moved to second on an error, advanced to third on a grounder and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brady.
The Bruins invoked the mercy rule with three in the fifth. Washington led off with a single and Godin added a double. An RBI grounder to the right side off the bat of Nickles scored Washington to make it 7-1. Perez followed with a double to left-center to bring in Godin to increase the margin to 8-1. After a pair of walks to freshman Thessa Malau'ulu and Wisz, Brady tapped one to second, but it was misplayed, allowing Perez to score the final run.
UCLA travels to Long Beach State on Saturday for a 12 p.m. contest. The game will be live streamed, with a link on the softball schedule page.