Pola Doubles Twice in UCLA's 3-1 Win Over Oregon
LOS ANGELES – Savannah Pola doubled twice and knocked in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning to help the No. 3 UCLA softball team to a 3-1 series-opening victory over No. 12 Oregon at Easton Stadium on Friday night.
The Bruins (29-3, 7-0 Pac-12) are now riding a 21-game winning streak. It is the second-longest win streak in The Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez era (won 25 straight to begin the 2018 season).
Redshirt junior Megan Faraimo went the distance for her 10th complete game and Pac-12-best 14th win of the year. Faraimo struck out seven batters to push her season total to 178 which also leads the conference. She is six strikeouts away from tying her former season-high of 184 strikeouts in 2021.
In the second inning, Faraimo allowed her 13th longball of the year to Ariel Carlson as the Ducks (24-6, 4-3 Pac-12) took a 1-0 lead.
Maya Brady led off the fourth inning with a single up the middle, and a batter later, tip-toed around the Oregon catcher to score on a Seneca Curo single and error in right field.
Pola's double in the next bottom half brought redshirt senior Briana Perez across home after she opened the inning by blasting a triple off the left field wall on an 0-0 count. Pola's performance tonight leapfrogged Arizona State's Yannira Acuña for the Pac-12 lead in doubles with 13 this season.
Savi Pola's second double of the game puts the Bruins in the lead! 🐻
📺: Pac-12 Networks
📱: https://t.co/FB7TEczlfO#GoBruins | @SavannahPola pic.twitter.com/AaG8I3BHmp— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) April 2, 2022
Alyssa Garcia, who had struck out in her previous two at-bats in the game, tallied a valuable insurance run in the sixth with her first home run of the season – a line shot to right field.
Faraimo shut the door in the seventh by striking out the side on 13 pitches.
First pitch for game two between the Bruins and Ducks is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. PT. The contest will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.