The crack of the ball off Jordan Woolery’s bat within the first inning despatched a pointy, resounding message — the Bruins weren’t going to let their opponent dictate the tone this time.
Woolery, UCLA’s RBI chief, went two for 3 with a three-run homer, a triple and 5 RBIs to steer the Bruins to a 10-0, six-inning shutout over San Diego State in Sport 2 of the Los Angeles Regional on Saturday afternoon.
The No. 9 Bruins (51-10) cruised into Sport 6 of the regional, the place they’ll have an opportunity to clinch a spot within the Tremendous Regionals with another win. Their opponent has but to be decided for Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. PDT first pitch.
It was a whole function reversal. Only a day after UCLA’s bats stayed quiet via the primary 4 innings in an eventual victory over UC Santa Barbara, the Bruins opened their second regional matchup with intent.
On the primary pitch, Jessica Clements ripped a leadoff double. One pitch later, Savannah Pola dropped down a bunt and, recognizing an uncovered second base, the speedy second baseman turned it right into a heads-up double.
With runners in scoring place, Jordan Woolery did what’s grow to be second nature — she introduced them dwelling, and did so with a bang.
Staying affected person within the field, Woolery labored the rely full, ready for a pitch she might drive. She then clobbered a excessive fly ball that simply cleared the glove of San Diego State heart fielder Julie Holcomb, crusing over the wall for a three-run homer.
A candidate for nationwide participant of the 12 months, Woolery is considered one of UCLA’s most constant threats close to the highest of the lineup. She entered the regional ranked fifth within the nation with 75 RBIs — the second-highest single-season mark in program historical past.
Woolery added one other RBI later, legging out a triple after a diving try by the Aztecs’ proper fielder missed and the ball skipped previous, permitting Clements to attain. The hit introduced her whole to 6 RBIs for the weekend.
In an encore to her heroics on the plate and dominance in reduction the night time earlier than, Kaitlyn Terry took the mound with poise and command. The left-hander turned in a clean outing, giving up solely two hits and one stroll whereas hanging out 5.
Her solely bother got here within the backside of the third. A stroll, an infield single and a fielding error loaded the bases, giving San Diego State a major probability to take the lead. However Terry stayed composed.
After recording two outs, Terry dug in for a seven-pitch battle with Angie Yellen — and gained, inducing a routine groundout to finish the inning and protect the Bruins’ lead.
From there, she settled in and located her rhythm, retiring 9 straight batters and hanging out three, incomes the complete-game shutout victory.
A six-run rally within the sixth inning sealed the sport through the run rule. Kaniya Bragg opened the onslaught with a two-run double, adopted by an RBI single to proper discipline from Terry. Then, similar to the night time earlier than, Megan Grant delivered the ending blow — a two-run triple that slammed excessive off the center-field wall, narrowly lacking a three-run homer.
With the win, the Bruins notched back-to-back mercy-rule victories — their twenty seventh of the season, extending a program file.
