March 7, 2012

Box Score
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LOS ANGELES - The 17th-ranked Bruins hit five home runs on Wednesday night, including a pair from sophomore Kellie Fox, as UCLA defeated Michigan State 14-3 in five innings at Easton Stadium. Fox drove in a career-high five, while senior Samantha Camuso, junior B.B. Bates and freshman Stephany LaRosa also homered.

The Bruins improve to 15-6 on the season, while the Spartans fall to 5-13.

Camuso, Fox and senior Andrea Harrison each had two-hit games. Camuso drove in three, while Bates and LaRosa both had two runs batted in. Junior Destiny Rodino (2-1) picked up the win in relief, tossing a scoreless third inning, striking out one and giving up a hit. Sophomore Jessica Hall started and fanned two in two innings, allowing three runs (two earned) and two hits. Freshman Ally Carda tossed the last two innings and struck out five, giving up two hits and a walk.

Michigan State scored three in the top of the first. Lori Padilla led off with a slap single to the 5-6 hole, stole second and moved to third on a ground out to second by Kylene Hopkins. Ali Grant then hit a soft liner to third, but it went in and out of LaRosa's glove, allowing her to reach, as Grant proceeded to steal second. Mary Kate DiVirgilio followed with a double to center, as Padilla scored but Grant only advanced to third. With Stephanie Sanders now up, Hall uncorked a wild pitch on strike three, as Grant came home with the Spartans' second run. As the Bruins got the ball back into the infield, Sanders got caught in a rundown between first and second. DiVirgilio would break for home and made it safely to make it 3-0.

UCLA stormed back with five in the bottom of the first on three home runs. With one out, Harrison singled up the middle and came home on LaRosa's fifth homer of the season to left to make it 3-2. One out later, Camuso launched one out to left, her fourth of the season, to tie the score. After senior Dani Yudin singled up the middle, Fox crushed her second bomb of the year to right to give the Bruins a 5-3 lead.

The Bruins broke it open with six in the bottom of the second. Sophomore Talee Snow led off with a single to right-center, moved to second on a walk to senior Katie Schroeder and scored on a single to left by Harrison to make it 6-3. Back-to-back walks to LaRosa and Bates forced home Schroeder for the seventh run, while a single to left by Camuso brought in Harrison and LaRosa to make it 9-3. A free pass to Yudin reloaded the bases, while Fox followed with a sacrifice fly to right, as all three runners moved up a base and Bates scored for the 10th run. Carda was hit to again load the bases and Snow lifted a deep sacrifice fly to center to bring in freshman Sam Duran, who was running for Camuso, to make it 11-3.

UCLA added three more in the third. With one out, Bates joined the act with her fourth homer of the season to center to make it 12-3. One out later, Yudin walked and Fox hit her second homer of the game and third of the year to center to increase the margin to 14-3.

The Bruins play five times this weekend at the Long Beach State Invitational at Lakewood's Mayfair Park. UCLA takes on Eastern Kentucky (4:30 p.m.) and Long Beach State (7 p.m.) on Friday, Charleston Southern (4:30 p.m.) on Saturday and Pittsburgh (8:45 a.m.) and Utah State (1:30 p.m.) on Sunday. Gametracker will be available for all five games at UCLABruins.com, as well as live updates at twitter.com/UCLASoftball.