UCLA Falls to Arizona State, 6-1

TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 4 UCLA softball team fell to No. 12 Arizona State, 6-1, in the series opener at Alberta B. Farrington Stadium on Friday night.
 
The Bruins (39-7, 15-4 Pac-12) allowed the Sun Devils' (36-7, 17-2 Pac-12) 1-4 hitters to go 9-for-14, including three homers, for five RBI. UCLA must win the final two games of the series to keep its Pac-12 title hopes alive.
 
Megan Faraimo earned the loss in her 21st start of the season after allowing four earned runs off five hits in 2.1 innings pitched.
 
Arizona State's Alynah Torres tagged Faraimo for a leadoff home run off the second pitch of the game to take an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.
 
With one out in the third, the Sun Devils strung together four straight base hits, including two doubles and a homer to score three more runs. Yannira Acuna knocked in Torres, who reached on a double, with Arizona State's second longball of the night.
 
Lauren Shaw entered in relief for Faraimo after another double, this time to Cydney Sanders. To her first batter of the game, Shaw allowed a base hit to Jazmine Hill who proceeded to get into a pickle between first and second base, allowing Sanders to score.
 
Briana Perez led off the fourth inning with a stand-up double and came around to score the Bruins' first run of the game with a base hit into center field by Alyssa Garcia off an off-speed pitch. With that run, Perez tied Natasha Watley's UCLA career runs scored record of 252.
 
The Bruins had two other chances to plate runs with runners in scoring position. In the fifth inning, UCLA stranded two on third and second base with one out, and in the sixth, it failed to score with a runner on second and one out.
 
The Sun Devils' third homer of the night was another two-run shot, this time by Hill, to dead center in the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
Shaw finished the night with three strikeouts and two earned runs in 3.1 innings of work.
 
UCLA looks to bounce back in game two against Arizona State tomorrow evening at 4 p.m. PT. The contest can be viewed on the Pac-12 Networks.