No. 2 Bruins Sweep Doubleheader at Long Beach State
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LONG BEACH, Calif. - The middle innings proved to be fruitful for the second-ranked Bruins on Wednesday, as they defeated Long Beach State by scores of 5-1 and 10-2 in five innings in a doubleheader sweep at the LBSU Softball Complex.
In game one, senior Rachel Garcia (9-0) struck out 10 in a complete-game, four-hitter, giving up just one run and four walks. She had a 1-2-3, two-strikeout third inning, as well as two more strikeouts in the seventh. At the plate, five different Bruins compiled their five hits.
It was scoreless until the fourth when UCLA (33-3) broke through. With two outs and Garcia on third after a single and freshmen Maya Brady and Alyssa Garcia aboard on walks, senior Jenavee Peres singled to left to put the Bruins on the board.
In the fifth, freshman Thessa Malau'ulu led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a ground out. After a walk to junior Kinsley Washington, junior Briana Perez tripled down the right-field line to plate both runners to bring the lead to 3-0. An RBI grounder from Rachel Garcia brought in Perez to make it 4-0.
UCLA scored another in the sixth. Alyssa Garcia walked to lead off the inning, and was pinch-run for by senior Alana Snow, who advanced to third following walks to Peres and senior Julie Rodriguez and scored on a Washington ground out.
Long Beach State (26-7) broke the shutout in the seventh, but UCLA won by four.
In game two, the Bruins (34-3) had nine hits from six different players, with Brady posting three hits and sophomore Anna Vines adding two. In the circle, junior Holly Azevedo (8-0) struck out four in five innings, giving up two runs, three hits and one walk. She had 1-2-3 innings in the third and fifth, fanning two in the final frame.
UCLA scored twice in the second. Brady led off with a bunt single and moved to third on a Vines double. After a hit by pitch of freshman Seneca Curo loaded the bases, freshman Taylor Edwards drew a walk to make it 1-0. A sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Peres scored Vines to give the Bruins a second run.
The Bruins netted three in the third. Rachel Garcia led off with a double, and was pinch-run for by freshman Lauryn Carter, who scored one out later on a single to center by Brady. When the ball got away from the LBSU center fielder and rolled to the wall, Brady came all the way around to score to make it 4-0. Vines followed with a mammoth home run to right, her second of the season, to bring the lead to 5-0.
Long Beach State (26-8) hit a two-run homer in the fourth, but UCLA tacked on five runs in the fifth to invoke the mercy rule. With one out, Vines walked and Curo and Edwards singled to load the bases. Sophomore Kelli Godin followed with a single to left to score Vines to make it 6-2. A walk to Washington forced in Curo to bring the advantage to 7-2, while a two-out walk to Rodriguez brought home Edwards to make it 8-2. With junior Delanie Wisz at the plate, a wild pitch scored Godin to increase the lead to 9-2. Following a walk to Wisz to re-load the bases, Brady singled to left to score Malau'ulu, who was running for Washington, to make it 10-2.
The Bruins host Stanford in a four-game series this weekend at Easton Stadium. Game one will be Friday at 7 p.m. The contest will air live on Pac-12 Network and will also feature a free audio stream at UCLABruins.com.