No. 5 Bruins Defeat Weber State, 9-1, in Six Innings
FULLERTON, Calif. – The Bruins only needed six innings to defeat Weber State on Friday evening, as No. 5 UCLA took a 9-1 victory behind a strong offensive performance and efficient pitching efforts from Holly Azevedo and Lauren Shaw.
Maya Brady led the way with three hits for the Bruins. Savannah Pola and Kelli Godin each contributed two hits and two runs.
UCLA (16-3) totaled nine runs on 12 hits against the Wildcats, including four runs apiece in the second and sixth innings. Azevedo pitched 4.0 scoreless innings and improved to 7-1 on the year. Shaw closed things out with 2.0 innings of relief.
Azevedo tossed a scoreless first inning and the Bruins came up in the bottom half. Kinsley Washington walked to lead off the game and Pola brought her in with an RBI double.
Three strikeouts from Azevedo in the top of the second led to a four-spot for the Bruins. Taylor Stephens reached on a fielder's choice before Godin knocked her win with a triple for the first run of the game. Washington followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Delanie Wisz and Maya Brady capped the inning with back-to-back RBI singles, making it 5-0 heading into the third inning.
Azevedo continued her strong outing with scoreless third and fourth innings. She ended her appearance striking out eight of the 14 batters she faced before giving way to Shaw in relief. Shaw worked through an error to toss a scoreless frame in the fifth.
The Wildcats pushed their first run across in the top of the sixth – an unearned run for Shaw – but the Bruins closed it out with an offensive outburst in the bottom of the sixth. Godin led off the inning with a single and came all the way around to score after a Weber State throwing error. Later, a second error in the inning allowed Anna Vines to score on a single from Pola. Brady then doubled to knock in a run and Briana Perez ended the game with an RBI single, securing the 9-1 victory in six innings.
The Bruins will finish up the Judi Garman Classic with a matchup against Texas A&M on Saturday. First pitch from Anderson Family Field is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT.