No. 9 Softball Beats Nevada and Duke at Mary Nutter

Friday, February 20

Cathedral City, CA

3:30 PM (PT)

UCLA

9-3

Nevada

7-7

Nevada

UCLA

Kelly Inouye-Perez (left) and Taylor Tinsley

Photo by: Jesus Ramirez

No. 9 Softball Beats Nevada and Duke at Mary Nutter

February 21, 2026 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score (PDF)Game 2 Box Score (PDF)UCLA's Season Stats (PDF)

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – The No. 9-ranked UCLA softball team secured two wins over Nevada, 6-5, and No. 20 Duke, 10-5, on day two of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Big League Dreams Sports Park on Friday.

Senior Jordan Woolery put up the top offensive performance for the Bruins (10-3), going 3-for-7 with four RBIs and a home run over the two games.

Pitcher Taylor Tinsley earned the win in both games with 10.0 innings and nine strikeouts across her two outings. After allowing just one run over 7.0 innings in a loss to the Blue Devils (9-6) at the Mary Nutter a year ago, Tinsley bounced back with another complete-game effort, this time for the win. Her record now sits at 7-2 on the season.

Game 1: UCLA 6, Nevada 5
The Bruins overcame a three-run deficit to defeat the Wolf Pack (7-7). Nevada snapped a 2-2 tie in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff home run by Lexi O'Gorman. UCLA starter Natalie Cable surrendered a double to the next hitter she faced, prompting a pitching change for Tinsley.

After walking her first batter, Tinsley recorded the first out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt by Nevada first baseman Hannah Di Genova, bumping two runners into scoring position. The next hitter, Saige Alfaro, fought back from an 0-2 count and fisted a ball that landed fair along the right field line to score two more runs.

Trailing 5-2, the Bruin batters went to work immediately in the bottom half with four consecutive base hits, including back-to-back doubles by Rylee Slimp and Grant to open the frame. Grant's double brought home Slimp to cut the lead to 5-3. On the next pitch, Woolery plated Grant on an RBI single up the middle. Sophomore Kaniya Bragg kept the hit train chugging along with a grounder through the left side to advance the game-tying run into scoring position.

Ramsey Suarez, fresh off a career performance versus Auburn with a homer, triple and double on Thursday, delivered more heroics with a game-tying RBI single that squirted past Nevada's diving second baseman.

Tinsley produced a shutdown sixth inning to put the bats back in the Bruins' hands. Slimp was drilled by a pitch and Grant walked on four pitches, setting the stage for Bragg who smacked the game-winning RBI single through the right side to put UCLA up 6-5.

Earlier in the game, Grant hit a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning. Grant's crossing of home plate after her 10th blast of the year marked her 200th career RBI. She is the seventh Bruin in program history to accomplish that milestone.

Grant reached base in all four of her plate appearances with a homer, double and two walks. She owns a .700 on-base percentage and 2.321 OPS through 13 games this season. Twelve of her 15 hits have gone for extra bases, with 10 being home runs.

Cable finished her outing with seven strikeouts and four earned runs off eight hits, one walk and two hit-by-pitches. Nevada starting pitcher Talia Tretton held UCLA's lineup at bay for much of the ballgame. Tretton was subbed out of the circle prior to UCLA's fifth-inning rally; before that, the Bruins mustered only two runs off three hits and struck out four times.

Game 2: UCLA 10, Duke 5
After throwing 45 pitches in Game 1, Tinsley added 122 pitches and went the distance versus Duke in Game 2. She finished with six strikeouts and five runs.

Tinsley settled in after allowing two runs in top of the first. She threw four straight scoreless frames and retired 10 consecutive batters before the Blue Devils scored three in the top of the sixth.

UCLA took the lead for good with four runs in the bottom of the second. The Bruins' No. 9 and 1 hitters, Mia Phillips and Slimp, worked full-count walks to load the bases for Grant who drove in the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly to right field. With the score knotted at 2-2, Woolery blasted a ball over the left-center field wall for a three-run homer. Over UCLA's three games at the Mary Nutter, Woolery has gone 6-for-11 with two home runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs.

The Bruins added some insurance three innings later with a two-out rally that scored three. Suarez dropped a bloop double down the right field line to put runners on second and third for the top of the order. Slimp cashed in with a two-RBI double to left field, bringing the lead to 7-2. Next up, Grant skied an infield pop-up that was dropped by Duke shortstop Tyrina Jones for her third error of the night to score Slimp.

Freshman Jolyna Lamar, the daughter of Duke head coach Marissa Young, capped the Bruins' scoring with an RBI single into center field against her mom's squad. Lamar's sister, Layla, was in the Blue Devils' lineup as the designated player.

UCLA's offense racked up 10 runs off eight hits, five walks and two hit-by-pitched against Duke starter Cassidy Curd, who shut out the Bruins at the Mary Nutter last season.

Next Up
UCLA plays two more games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic tomorrow versus Fresno State (3 p.m. PT) and No. 13 South Carolina (5:30 p.m. PT). Fans can stream both games for a fee on FloCollege.