Courtesy of UCLA Athletics
LOS ANGELES – The seventh-seeded Bruins advanced to the Women’s College World Series on Sunday for the first time since 2010, scoring nine straight runs at one point and holding on for a 10-6 victory over #10 Missouri at the Los Angeles Super Regional at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins improve to 50-10 to post their first back-to-back, 50-win seasons since 2002-2003. The Tigers end their season with a 42-16 record.
UCLA faces #2-seed Oregon on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PT in the first round of the WCWS. The game will air live on ESPN2.
UCLA recorded 11 hits from eight different players, as junior Mysha Sataraka and freshmen Maddy Jelenicki andKylee Perez each posted two-hit contests.
In the circle, senior Ally Carda (31-6) struck out four in six innings, giving up six runs (four earned), 10 hits and five walks. Freshman Selina Ta’amilo closed out the game, retiring all three batters she faced, including two by strikeout.
Missouri, playing as the home team, got on the board in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Amanda Sanchez.
The Bruins stormed back with four in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth. Jelenicki led off the second with a double to center and sophomore Gabrielle Maurice walked. Sataraka followed with a single to right to bring in Jelenicki to even the game, as Maurice took third and Sataraka advanced to second on the throw.
One out later, Perez grounded one to second, but it was misplayed for an error, as Maurice came home with the Bruins’ second run. Sophomore Delaney Spaulding followed with a homer to right, her 20th of the season, to increase the lead to 4-1.
In the third, the Bruins rallied with two outs, as Maurice singled up the middle and Sataraka homered to left, her seventh of the season and second of the weekend, to make it a 6-1 advantage.
In the fourth, one more swing made it a 9-1 game. With two on and two outs, senior Stephany LaRosa homered to right, her 19th of the season, to put the Bruins up by eight.
Missouri got a run back in the fifth on an RBI single by Kirsten Mack, but UCLA countered that in the top of the sixth. Carda led off with a double to right-center, and was pinch-run for by senior Jessica Amaral, who moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by LaRosa to make it 10-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, a Kelsea Roth homer, an RBI single by Emily Crane and a bases-loaded walk to Corrin Genovese cut the Tigers’ deficit to 10-5.
In the seventh, Missouri led off with another homer by Roth to make it 10-6, but Ta’amilo got all three batters she faced on a strikeout, a ground out and another strikeout to clinch the Super Regional.
