UCLA Softball Falls to Bama, 6-3; Faces Arkansas Tonight
The Bruins are facing an elimination game after losing to the Crimson Tide, 6-3.
Live by the long ball. Die by the long ball.
That pretty much sums up yesterday’s game for the UCLA Bruins at the WCWS in Oklahoma City. Unfortunately, due to two late inning homers by the Crimson Tide, the Bruins fell 6-3, and, now, UCLA faces itself on the verge of elimination.
Tonight, the Bruins will face the Arkansas Razorbacks in an elimination game at 6:30 pm PT. Tonight’s game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Last Time Out
Alabama got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first when Marlie Giles singled to left to score Bama’s leadoff batter Jena Young, who had reached on a single to center.
The score remained 1-0 until the Bruin bats came alive in the top of the third. With one out, Kaniya Bragg singled to right and Mia Phillips pinch-ran for Bragg.
Rylee Slimp came to the plate with two outs and she took a 3-2 pitch and put it over the fence in left-center. Megan Grant followed and made it back-to-back homers with a shot to right and UCLA had a 3-1 lead.
Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Bruins would be able to muster. In fact, Alabama pitcher Jocelyn Briski would allow just three more baserunners in the final four innings, and none of them even made it into scoring position.
Meanwhile, Taylor Tinsley got tagged for five more runs. In the bottom of the fifth, she gave up a lead-off walk to Young and gave up a one-out, two-run homer to Alexis Pupillo, which proved to be the game-winner.
In the sixth, the Crimson Tide would pick up a few insurance runs on a three-run homer to center by Brooke Wells.
With a comfortable 6-3 lead, Briski was able to finish the game in the seventh despite hitting Bragg with a pitch.
Arkansas Razorbacks
In Game 4, the Razorbacks got on the board first with a two-out home run from Kailey Wyckoff which gave Arkansas a 2-0 lead.
Nebraska tied the game in the fourth with some small ball. A bloop single by Samantha Bland scored Jesse Farrell and an RBI fielder’s choice by Bella Bacon scored Kacie Hoffman to tie the game.
With the score still tied after seven, the game moved into extras. Each team added a run in the eighth. Reagan Johnson gave Arkansas a 3-2 lead by scoring on an RBI single to left by Ella McDowell. The Huskers tied the game again in the bottom half of the inning on a solo home run by Hannah Coor.
In the tenth, Ava Kuszak hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer over the centerfield wall to give Nebraska the win and send the Razorbacks into tonight’s elimination game.
Here’s the full schedule for the 2026 WCWS:
Thursday, May 28
Game 1: #3 Texas Tech 8, #5 Mississippi State 0
Game 2: #2 Tennessee 6, #1 Texas 3
Game 3: #1 Alabama 6, #2 UCLA 3
Game 4: #1 Nebraska 5, #2 Arkansas 3 (10 innings)
Friday, May 29
Game 5: #5 Mississippi State vs. #1 Texas at 4:00 pm PT on ESPN
Game 6: #2 UCLA vs. #2 Arkansas at 6:30 pm PT on ESPN
Saturday, May 30
Game 7: #3 Texas Tech vs. #2 Tennessee at 12 Noon PT on ABC
Game 8: #1 Alabama vs. #1 Nebraska at 4:00 pm PT on ESPN
Sunday, May 31
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser at Noon PT on ABC
Game 10: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser at 4:00 pm PT on ESPN
Monday, June 1
Game 11: Game 7 Winner 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: Game 8 Winner 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 3 on ESPN
Game 2: 5:00 pm PT, Thursday, June 4 on ESPN
Game 3 (if necessary): 5:00 pm PT, Friday, June 5 on ESPN
Women’s College World Series
Game #6
Teams: #2 seed UCLA Bruins (52-9) vs. #2 seed Arkansas Razorbacks (47-12)
When: 6:30 pm PT, Friday, May 29, 2026
Where: Devon Park, Oklahoma City, OK
TV: ESPN with Kevin Brown and Amanda Scarborough
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
NCAA.com
This is your UCLA Bruins vs. Arkansas Razorbacks open thread.
Go Bruins!!!
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