Courtesy of UCLA Athletics
LOS ANGELES – The eighth-ranked Bruins jumped all over the top-ranked Oregon Ducks on Friday at Easton Stadium, scoring twice in the first, four in the third and two more in the sixth in an 8-1 victory. Senior Ally Carda got the UCLA offense going with a home run in the first and tied a career high with 14 strikeouts in the circle.
The Bruins improve to 31-6 overall and 6-1 in Pac-12 play, while the Ducks fall to 30-5 and 8-2 in league action.
Carda (17-3) had at least one strikeout in every inning, fanning the side in the first, two apiece in the next five frames and one in the seventh. She had 1-2-3 innings in the third and fifth, allowing just one run, two hits and two walks in the complete-game victory.
At the plate, the Bruins recorded eight hits, with Carda, sophomore Gabrielle Maurice and freshman Kylee Perez posting two each.
After the Ducks left a pair on in the first, along with three in the second, the Bruins scored a pair in their first at-bat. Carda opened the inning with her fourth homer of the season to right-center, which was followed one batter later by senior Stephany LaRosa’s sixth bomb of the season to center to put the Bruins up 2-0.
In the third, Carda laced a one-out single to left, sophomore Delaney Spaulding walked, and one out later, freshman Maddy Jelenicki was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Junior Brittany Moeai followed with an eight-pitch walk to force home Carda to make it 3-0. Maurice singled through the 3-4 hole to plate Spaulding and Jelenicki to increase the advantage to 5-0. A Perez single up the middle then scored Moeai to bring in run number six.
Oregon avoided the shutout with a solo homer off the bat of Koral Costa in the fourth to make it 6-1, but the Bruins tacked on two more in the sixth. Maurice led off with a single to center, stole second and moved to third on a Perez single to right. One out later, junior Allexis Bennett singled over the third baseman’s head to bring in Maurice to make it 7-1. After Carda was hit by a pitch, Spaulding lifted a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Perez to put the Bruins on top 8-1.
UCLA and Oregon tangle again on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Easton Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks and will also have free audio and live stats on UCLABruins.com.
