It's Win or Go Home for UCLA Softball After 1-0 Loss to Sooners

The Bruins struggled to get runners on base yesterday against the defending champs.

Freshman Kaitlyn Terry made just one mistake yesterday but that proved to be the difference. (Photo Credit: Ross Turteltaub/uclabruins.com)

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While this afternoon’s game between UCLA and Stanford was scheduled for a 4 pm PT first pitch, a weather-delay has prevented Game 9 between Florida and Alabama from starting on time. Right now, it looks like that game won’t start until 3 pm PT.

That means the Bruins’ game against the Cardinal likely won’t begin until somewhere closer to 6 pm PT, perhaps a little earlier if the Florida-Alabama game wraps up quickly.

Last Time Out

When the UCLA Bruins faced the Oklahoma Sooners yesterday, the game had the feel of a heavyweight fight. And, it made sense. The Bruins and the Sooners are the only two teams to have won the last four NCAA Softball national championships.

And the game certainly lived up to that billing.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, they came out on the short side of a 1-0 pitcher’s duel. UCLA’s bats were stymied by Oklahoma grad transfer Kelly Maxwell, who only gave up two hits to the Bruins while walking three.

Meanwhile, the game didn’t start off so smoothly for Bruin starter Kaitlyn Terry. A walk and a single gave the Sooners a pair of baserunners without any outs. After getting the next two batters on a strikeout and flyout, Terry walked the next batter on four pitches.

That gave the Sooners the opportunity to break the game open big early, and it was exactly the type of spot where UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez tends to overmanage the team. Admittedly, I fully expected her to come out and take the ball from Terry and hand it to Taylor Tinsley.

Surprisingly, she didn’t make the pitching change and Terry struck out the next Sooner to end the Oklahoma threat.

A hit-by-pitch and a walk resulted in the Bruins threatening in the top of the third but they stranded the runners on second and third when Sharlize Palacios struck out.

After a relatively smooth second inning, Terry faced San Pedro native and Maya Brady’s best friend Tiare Jennings to start the third. Jennings sent the first pitch over the centerfield fence.

At the time, it didn’t seem like that big of an issue because it was only one run, but the Bruins managed to only get one runner on board in both the fourth and the fifth innings and they stranded both of them.

UCLA’s best chance to tie the game came in the sixth. With one out, Megan Grant picked up the Bruins’ second hit of the game and Jordan Woolery walked to give UCLA just their third runner in scoring position for the game. But Savannah Pola flew out to left and Ramsey Suarez struck out pinch-hitting for Seneca Curo.

Maxwell retired the first two batters she faced to set up a final showdown with birthday girl Maya Brady. But Brady grounded out to second for the final out of this one and the Sooners took this one, 1-0.

Stanford Cardinal

While the Bruins and the Cardinal were the two best teams in the Pac-12 this season, they only met during conference play and didn’t meet in the Pac-12 Softball Tournament.

When they met during the regular season, UCLA went on the road and swept the three-game series against Stanford. The Bruins needed nine innings to get the first win of that series, taking that game 1-0. In that game, Taylor Tinsley held the Cardinal scoreless and Stanford’s NiJaree Canady, who was named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year this season, kept UCLA off the board until the top of the ninth.

The second game of the series saw the Bruins hang five runs on Stanford starter Regan Krause and four more on Kylie Chung. Meanwhile, Terry gave up three to the Cardinal in three innings pitched.

Terry and Tinsley combined for another shutout of the Cardinal in the final game of the set while Jordan Woolery hit a two-run homer off Canady to let the Bruins break out the broom.

You might have expected that UCLA would have seen Stanford again in the Pac-12 Softball Tournament since the Bruins were the top seed and the Cardinal was the #2 seed, but Stanford lost their semifinal to Utah, 2-1, and the teams didn’t meet again as a result.

I expect Stanford to send Canady to the circle this afternoon but I’m not sure whether UCLA will stick with Terry or turn to Tinsley to start today’s game.

The bad news for the Bruins is that this is an elimination game for them and that means that the biggest obstacle to the Bruins winning today may be head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. Hopefully, UCLA can get their bats going and get on the board early as that will minimize her tendency to overmanage this game.

Sunday, June 2

Game 9: #14 Alabama vs. #4 Florida at 3 pm PT (weather-delayed) on ESPN2
Game 10: #8 Stanford vs. #6 UCLA 30 mins after end of Game 9 on ESPN2

Monday, June 3

Game 11: #2 Oklahoma vs. Game 9 Winner at 9:00 am PT on ESPN
Game 12: Game 11 teams (if necessary), 11:30 am PT on ESPN
Game 13: #1 Texas vs. Game 10 Winner at 4:00 pm PT on ESPN2
Game 14: Game 12 teams (if necessary), 6:30 pm PT on ESPN2

Championship Finals

Game 1: 5:00 pm PT, Wednesday, June 5 on ESPN
Game 2: 5:00 pm PT, Thursday, June 6 on ESPN
Game 3 (if necessary): 5:00 pm PT, Friday, June 7 on ESPN

This is your UCLA vs. Stanford game thread.

Women’s College World Series

Game #10

Teams: #6 seed UCLA Bruins (43-11) vs. #8 seed Stanford Cardinal (49-16)
When: approx 6:00 pm PT , Sunday, June 2, 2024
Where: Devon Park, Oklahoma City, OK
TV: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
NCAA.com

Game Notes:
UCLA

NCAA WCWS Bracket


Go Bruins!!!

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