Sunday, June 2
4:00 PM
UCLA
43-12
1
vs
3
Stanford
50-16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
UCLA
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
4
0
Stanford
0
0
2
0
1
0
X
3
6
0
Bruins fall 3-1 to Stanford in final softball game against Pac-12 teams, eliminated from WCWS.
Photo by: Ross Turteltaub
Bruins' Season Ends with 3-1 Loss to Stanford
June 02, 2024 | Softball
OKLAHOMA CITYย โ The sixth-seeded UCLA softball team (43-12) fell to eighth-seeded Stanford, 3-1, in the final softball game against two Pac-12 teams in an elimination game on Sunday night at the Women's College World Series at Devon Park. With the loss, the Bruins were eliminated from the WCWS.
"I don't even know how to sum up in a short opening statement of just how proud I am of this team," said Kelly Inouye-Perez, the Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach. "Iย told them to keep it together. I'm just going to say this. I'm proud. I've said this, I've never been so proud of a team. I've coached a long time. It was hard. This season was hard. Nobody expected us, I was telling the team, not even us, that we were going to get here. Our coaches, our players, our staff, the support, the belief, the trust, the work to get us back here is something that I am proud of. I am proud. ... When I put it all together, this is the greatest year of coaching I've experienced. Man, building belief, building trust, building a team that could fight. We were right where we needed to be, and we ran out of time. But we were prepared. I know that everyone knew at any moment this team could win a ballgame. I'm proud of my young pitching staff. I'm proud of Maya Brady. In February we looked at each other. It was like, Do you believe? We looked at each other with, Wow, is this really happening?"
The Bruin offense struggled again for the second straight game, recording just four hits in 25 plate appearances (.160). UCLA was better with two outs (.222, 2-for-9), and with runners-on (.400, 2-for-5), but was 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.
Bruin pitchersย Kaitlyn Terryย andย Taylor Tinsleyย again kept UCLA in the game, combining to allow just six hits to the Cardinal (50-16). Terry fell to 21-3 on the year, pitching two and a third innings while giving up three hits and two runs with three strikeouts. Tinsley pitched three and two-thirds innings while allowing three hits and giving up one run with one strikeout. Neither Bruin pitcher offered up a free pass to Stanford.
After the Bruins went 1, 2, 3 in the top of the first, Terry began with a three-up, three-down inning including two strikeouts.
ย
Megan Grant led off the second inning with a solo home run to left field, her eighth of the year, to open the scoring off the Pac-12 and National Pitcher of the Year, NiJaree Canady. But Canady retired the next three Bruins to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the second, Stanford got a lead-off single, but then Terry retired the next three batters to complete a nine-pitch inning.
The Bruins got two singles in the top of the third, but both runners were stranded to keep the score at 1-0 heading into the bottom of the inning. Emily Jones led off with a single in the bottom of the third for Stanford. After Terry retired the next batter on a fly out, Taryn Kern doubled to left center, scoring Jones to tie the game at 1-1. Then Tinsley came on in relief and struck out Kyra Chan. Ava Gall singled to right with two outs, scoring Kern to give Stanford a 2-1 lead. Tinsley would force a ground out to strand Gall to get out of the inning.
Both pitchers shut down their opponents in the fourth inning, allowing no baserunners. Then after UCLA went three-up, three-down in the top of the fifth, Stanford put the first two batters on base with back-to-back bunt singles in the bottom half of the inning. Kern grounded out, but Jones and Kaitlyn Lim advanced to second and third, respectively. Allie Clements pinch-hit for the Cardinal and drove in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly, scoring Jones (second run of the game for the No. 8 hitter in the Cardinal lineup). Gall then flied out to center and end the inning with Stanford leading 3-1.
ย
Both teams went quietly in the sixth inning.
ย
The first two Bruins were retired in the top of the seventh, and with the season on the line, Savannah Pola had an incredible at-bat, fighting off seven two-strike pitches before reaching first after she was hit by a pitch. Then Thessa Malau'ulu singled to left center to put two on with two out. Bruin pinch-hitter Ramsey Suarez grounded out to short to end the game.
ย
"I don't even know how to sum up in a short opening statement of just how proud I am of this team," said Kelly Inouye-Perez, the Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach. "Iย told them to keep it together. I'm just going to say this. I'm proud. I've said this, I've never been so proud of a team. I've coached a long time. It was hard. This season was hard. Nobody expected us, I was telling the team, not even us, that we were going to get here. Our coaches, our players, our staff, the support, the belief, the trust, the work to get us back here is something that I am proud of. I am proud. ... When I put it all together, this is the greatest year of coaching I've experienced. Man, building belief, building trust, building a team that could fight. We were right where we needed to be, and we ran out of time. But we were prepared. I know that everyone knew at any moment this team could win a ballgame. I'm proud of my young pitching staff. I'm proud of Maya Brady. In February we looked at each other. It was like, Do you believe? We looked at each other with, Wow, is this really happening?"
The Bruin offense struggled again for the second straight game, recording just four hits in 25 plate appearances (.160). UCLA was better with two outs (.222, 2-for-9), and with runners-on (.400, 2-for-5), but was 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.
Bruin pitchersย Kaitlyn Terryย andย Taylor Tinsleyย again kept UCLA in the game, combining to allow just six hits to the Cardinal (50-16). Terry fell to 21-3 on the year, pitching two and a third innings while giving up three hits and two runs with three strikeouts. Tinsley pitched three and two-thirds innings while allowing three hits and giving up one run with one strikeout. Neither Bruin pitcher offered up a free pass to Stanford.
After the Bruins went 1, 2, 3 in the top of the first, Terry began with a three-up, three-down inning including two strikeouts.
ย
Megan Grant led off the second inning with a solo home run to left field, her eighth of the year, to open the scoring off the Pac-12 and National Pitcher of the Year, NiJaree Canady. But Canady retired the next three Bruins to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the second, Stanford got a lead-off single, but then Terry retired the next three batters to complete a nine-pitch inning.
The Bruins got two singles in the top of the third, but both runners were stranded to keep the score at 1-0 heading into the bottom of the inning. Emily Jones led off with a single in the bottom of the third for Stanford. After Terry retired the next batter on a fly out, Taryn Kern doubled to left center, scoring Jones to tie the game at 1-1. Then Tinsley came on in relief and struck out Kyra Chan. Ava Gall singled to right with two outs, scoring Kern to give Stanford a 2-1 lead. Tinsley would force a ground out to strand Gall to get out of the inning.
Both pitchers shut down their opponents in the fourth inning, allowing no baserunners. Then after UCLA went three-up, three-down in the top of the fifth, Stanford put the first two batters on base with back-to-back bunt singles in the bottom half of the inning. Kern grounded out, but Jones and Kaitlyn Lim advanced to second and third, respectively. Allie Clements pinch-hit for the Cardinal and drove in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly, scoring Jones (second run of the game for the No. 8 hitter in the Cardinal lineup). Gall then flied out to center and end the inning with Stanford leading 3-1.
ย
Both teams went quietly in the sixth inning.
ย
The first two Bruins were retired in the top of the seventh, and with the season on the line, Savannah Pola had an incredible at-bat, fighting off seven two-strike pitches before reaching first after she was hit by a pitch. Then Thessa Malau'ulu singled to left center to put two on with two out. Bruin pinch-hitter Ramsey Suarez grounded out to short to end the game.
ย
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Canady, NiJaree (24-6)
L: Terry, Kaitlyn (21-3)
Batting:
HR: Grant, Megan 1
RBI: Grant, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Grant, Megan 1
HBP: Pola, Savannah 1
Batting:
2B: Kern, Taryn 1
RBI: Kern, Taryn 1 ; Clements, Allie 1 ; Gall, Ava 1
SF: Clements, Allie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kern, Taryn 1 ; Jones, Emily 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
SS
/ SoftballUTIL
/ SoftballUTIL
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
P
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