March 27, 2012

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Video Recap
UCLA Softball on Twitter

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Freshman Stephany LaRosa went 7-for-8 with three home runs, six runs batted in and five runs scored in Tuesday's doubleheader, junior B.B. Bates was 5-for-6 with two homers and three RBI and sophomore Kellie Fox added five hits and four runs, as the 14th-ranked Bruins hit eight home runs in 14-0 and 14-5 victories over Cal Poly at Bob Janssen Field.

Game 1

LaRosa hit a pair of home runs, Bates added another and sophomore Talee Snow belted the first bomb of her career, as the Bruins blew out Cal Poly 14-0 in five innings. Sophomore Jessica Hall tossed a three-hitter in the circle.

LaRosa went 3-for-3 with four runs batted in and three runs scored, Bates added a pair of hits and RBI and Snow went 2-for-3 with four RBI. Fox added a three-hit game with three runs scored, as seven of the nine Bruin starters had at least one hit. Senior Katie Schroeder also drove in two and walked twice.

Hall retired the first five batters of the game, including Celina Lafrades in the bottom of the second on the defensive gem of the game, as senior Dani Yudin made a diving catch in foul ground on a check swing to record the out. She struck out two and gave up three walks to improve to 10-3 on the year.

LaRosa got things off to a good start, as she connected on her seventh home run of the year to right-center with one out to put the Bruins on the board.

In the top of the second, UCLA (22-6) batted around and scored five runs. The Bruins loaded the bases to open the inning on a walk to Yudin, a bunt single by Fox and a free pass to sophomore Alyssa Tiumalu. One out later, Schroeder doubled to the right-center gap to bring home Yudin and Fox to make it 3-0. LaRosa followed with her second homer in as many innings and her eighth of the season, about 245 feet out to straightaway center, to extend the advantage to 6-0.

The Bruins added one more in the third. With one out, Fox reached on a single off of Cal Poly (7-19) pitcher Chloe Wurst and moved to second after a ground out. Snow then doubled to right to plate Fox to make it 7-0.

UCLA continued the onslaught with seven runs in the fourth, sending 12 to the plate. Bates led off the inning with her seventh home run of the season to right-center to make it 8-0. One out later, Yudin walked and was pinch-run for by freshman Sam Duran, who moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a single to right-center by Fox. A Tiumalu single to left brought in Duran for the Bruins' ninth run, which was followed by Snow's first collegiate homer to center to make it a dozen runs for the visitors.

The Bruins weren't done yet though. Schroeder walked and was pinch-run for by freshman Tara Mueller, who moved to second on a single to left from LaRosa. Senior Andrea Harrison then singled to right, as Mueller scored the Bruins' 13th run, with LaRosa moving to third on a fielding error by right fielder Nicole Lund and Harrison advancing to second. Bates followed with a sacrifice fly to right to bring in LaRosa to make it 14-0.

Game 2

In the nightcap, the top four hitters in the Bruin lineup had multiple hits and a home run, as the Bruins posted a 14-5 victory. LaRosa went 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs, Harrison had three hits and drove in three, Bates added three hits and Schroeder recorded two hits, four RBI, three runs scored and two stolen bases.

Eight of the nine UCLA starters had a hit, as freshman Ally Carda went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and Fox added two more hits.

Carda also picked up the win in the circle to improve to 11-2 on the season. She struck out four, including a pair in the second and gave up one run, four hits and four walks in five innings. Junior Destiny Rodino pitched 2/3 of an inning, striking out one and giving up four unearned runs, three hits and a walk. Hall closed up shop, tossing the last 1 1/3 scoreless innings and walking one.

The Bruins (23-6) again jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Schroeder led off with a walk, stole second and scored one out later on a double to right-center by Harrison.

Cal Poly tied the score in the third, as with two outs, back-to-back doubles by Kim Westlund and Madi Vogelsang made it 1-1.

UCLA broke the tie with four in the fourth. Senior Samantha Camuso led off with a single to right and was pinch-run for by junior Devon Lindvall, who moved to second on a sacrifice by Fox. After a walk to Yudin, Carda doubled to right-center to bring in Lindvall to make it 2-1. One out later, Schroeder singled to left-center to plate Yudin and Carda to increase the margin to 4-1. Schroeder then stole second and came home on a single to center by LaRosa to make it 5-1.

The Bruins broke it open with three in the fifth. Bates hit her second home run of the afternoon and eighth of the year down the right-field line on the first pitch she saw to make it 6-1. Camuso then reached on an error by Westlund at short and was pinch-run for by senior Marti Reed, who moved to second on a single to left by Fox and advanced to third on a fly out to right off the bat of Yudin. After Fox stole second, Carda singled up the middle to bring home Reed and Fox to plate runs seven and eight.

UCLA tacked on two more in the sixth. LaRosa led off the frame with her third homer of the afternoon and ninth of the season to center, another 240-foot bomb, to make it 9-1. Harrison then singled up the middle and was pinch-run for by Mueller, who moved to second on a wild pitch. Two outs later, Bates and Tiumalu walked to load the bases and a wild pitch plated Mueller to make it 10-1.

The Mustangs (7-20) avoided the mercy rule with four in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Emily Ceccacci walked and Mariah Cochiolo reached when Fox had a ball go through her legs at short to put two on base. Trista Thomas then singled to center to plate Ceccacci to make it 10-2. After Whitley Gerhart grounded out to move both runners up, Jillian Andersen was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A single up the middle by Nora Sobczak scored Cochiolo to extend the game and make it 10-3, while Westlund followed with a single to right to bring in Thomas and Andersen to cut Cal Poly's deficit to 10-5.

UCLA got the four runs back in the seventh. Snow doubled to left to start the frame, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Schroeder's third home run of the season to center to make it 12-5. After a LaRosa single to center, Harrison launched her seventh jack of the year to left-center to again make it a nine-run margin.

The Bruins open up Pac-12 Conference play on Friday when they host Oregon State at 7 p.m. at Easton Stadium. The series continues on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m. Tickets for Friday's and Sunday's contests can be purchased online in advance here. Saturday's game is offline as far as ticket sales go, with a limited number available at the Easton Stadium ticket booth on gameday, which will be sold starting 90 minutes prior to first pitch. Gametracker and free audio will be available at UCLABruins.com, as well as live updates at twitter.com/uclasoftball.