UCLA softball's late three-run homer secures win in Indiana opener
No. 10 UCLA softball open their series against Indiana with a win thanks to late game heroics.
The No. 10 UCLA softball team scraped by their series opener versus Indiana with a 5-4 win at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday. The Bruins played Hawaii the day before to cleanse their palate of their Nebraska series blunder , but the Hoosiers pitching unit gave UCLA's batters a run for their money.
The Bruins' batters managed to push across seven runs and were walked six times for four RBI's and five runs over the course of the seven inning affair. Finding the rhythm UCLA had senior right-handed pitcher Taylor Tinsley on the mound for the entirety of the game and her veteran savviness on the mound resulted in no hits nor base runners over the first two innings. The Bruins batters faced an equal amount of struggles against Indiana's pitching unit, who allowed a walk and a hit in the first pair of innings, but no runs.
Scoring time The Hoosiers batters got the better of Tinsley in the top of the third with a pair of base runners scoring off a double, putting Indiana up two for the first runs scored of the game. UCLA got a run of their own off of a double, but their three hits were not enough to get them ahead of Indiana as they left two runners on base and entered the fourth down 2-1. Struggling in the fourth Tinsley gave up two hits in the start of the fourth, but steadied the ship to prevent any Hoosiers from getting home.
UCLA had one runner on base with a walk, but they weren't able to take advantage of Indiana's scoreless inning. Both teams stayed put at 2-1. Keeping pace UCLA fell behind 3-1 in the top of the fifth after Tinsley allowed two hits with Indiana scoring off of another double.