Saturday, May 20
Los Angeles, CA
4:30 PM
UCLA
52-7
1
vs
2
Liberty
39-21
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Liberty
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
2
3
0
UCLA
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
7
1
Brooke Yanez recorded nine strikeouts and gave up just three hits to Liberty.
Bruins' Season Comes to an End with 2-1 Loss to Liberty
May 20, 2023 | Softball
LOS ANGELES โ Second-seeded UCLA was eliminated from the NCAA Softball Championship with a 2-1 defeat to the Liberty Flames (39-21) on day two of the Los Angelesย Regional at Easton Stadium on Saturday evening.
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The Bruins (52-7) led 1-0 after the first at-bat of the game for UCLA when freshman Megan Grant hit a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence. It was her third lead-off homer of the year and her 15th overall.ย UCLA had a chance to widen its lead in the bottom of the second with a two-out rally as Kennedy Powell and Janelle Meoñoย hit back-to-back singles and Grant drew a walk to load the bases. But Liberty pitcher Karlie Keeney got Maya Brady to ground out to first to end the threat.
UCLA's starter on the mound, Brooke Yanez, was in control early, with an eight-pitch inning in the second and a seven-pitch inning in the third with the Bruins still leading 1-0. But the Flames got the equalizer in the top of the fourth inning when Rachel Roupeย swung at the first pitch offering and homered to left center (14th of the year). Yanez responded well with a ground out and her fourth strikeout of the game to get out of the inning.
In the fifth, Yanez struck out the side (all swinging) to improve her total to seven strikeouts for the game. Brady recorded her first hit of the NCAA Tournament with a single to left field with two outs, but she was left stranded as the Flames were able to get out of the inning and keep the score tied at 1-1 heading into the sixth.
Yanez ran her consecutive strikeouts to five in the top of the sixth, but Devyn Howard drew a walk to snap the streak, becoming only the third Flame to reach base. But Brady had her back, snagging a hard grounder to short from Caroline Hudson, quickly stepping on second for the force out and then throwing to first for the double play.
Aaliyah Jordan led off the bottom half of the sixth inning with a single up the middle (3-for-3), but Savannah Pola lined into a double play at second and Jordan was out on the play at first. Alyssa Garcia flied out to left to end the inning.
Liberty took the lead in the top of the seventh when Roupeย got a leadoff walk. She advanced to second on a sac bunt by Rachel Craine. Craine was originally called safe at first but UCLA challenged the play and the call was reversed. Then Yanezย got her ninth strikeout, this one on five pitches to Megan Fortner. But pinch hitter KC Machado singled through the left side and Roupe scored from second (her second run of the game), to give Liberty a 2-1 lead. After a review by the umpire, the close call at home plate was confirmed as Roupe slid under the late tag of Garcia, the Bruins' catcher. Yanez left the game as Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Megan Faraimo,ย took over and got out of the inning. But the Bruins went three-up-and-three-down in the bottom half of the seventh and were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.
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The Bruins (52-7) led 1-0 after the first at-bat of the game for UCLA when freshman Megan Grant hit a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence. It was her third lead-off homer of the year and her 15th overall.ย UCLA had a chance to widen its lead in the bottom of the second with a two-out rally as Kennedy Powell and Janelle Meoñoย hit back-to-back singles and Grant drew a walk to load the bases. But Liberty pitcher Karlie Keeney got Maya Brady to ground out to first to end the threat.
UCLA's starter on the mound, Brooke Yanez, was in control early, with an eight-pitch inning in the second and a seven-pitch inning in the third with the Bruins still leading 1-0. But the Flames got the equalizer in the top of the fourth inning when Rachel Roupeย swung at the first pitch offering and homered to left center (14th of the year). Yanez responded well with a ground out and her fourth strikeout of the game to get out of the inning.
In the fifth, Yanez struck out the side (all swinging) to improve her total to seven strikeouts for the game. Brady recorded her first hit of the NCAA Tournament with a single to left field with two outs, but she was left stranded as the Flames were able to get out of the inning and keep the score tied at 1-1 heading into the sixth.
Yanez ran her consecutive strikeouts to five in the top of the sixth, but Devyn Howard drew a walk to snap the streak, becoming only the third Flame to reach base. But Brady had her back, snagging a hard grounder to short from Caroline Hudson, quickly stepping on second for the force out and then throwing to first for the double play.
Aaliyah Jordan led off the bottom half of the sixth inning with a single up the middle (3-for-3), but Savannah Pola lined into a double play at second and Jordan was out on the play at first. Alyssa Garcia flied out to left to end the inning.
Liberty took the lead in the top of the seventh when Roupeย got a leadoff walk. She advanced to second on a sac bunt by Rachel Craine. Craine was originally called safe at first but UCLA challenged the play and the call was reversed. Then Yanezย got her ninth strikeout, this one on five pitches to Megan Fortner. But pinch hitter KC Machado singled through the left side and Roupe scored from second (her second run of the game), to give Liberty a 2-1 lead. After a review by the umpire, the close call at home plate was confirmed as Roupe slid under the late tag of Garcia, the Bruins' catcher. Yanez left the game as Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Megan Faraimo,ย took over and got out of the inning. But the Bruins went three-up-and-three-down in the bottom half of the seventh and were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: KEENEY, Karlie (26-11)
L: Yanez, Brooke (16-3)
Batting:
HR: ROUPE, Rachel 1
RBI: ROUPE, Rachel 1 ; MACHADO, KC 1
SH: CRAINE, Rachel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ROUPE, Rachel 2
Batting:
HR: Grant, Megan 1
RBI: Grant, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Grant, Megan 1
CS: Godin, Kelli 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
1b/dp
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
lf/dp
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
P/1B
/ Softball
C/1B
/ SoftballUTIL
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ SoftballUTIL
/ Softball
P
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