NCAA softball super regionals: UCLA hits 3 bombs in Game 1 win vs. UCF
UCLA scored six times in the fifth inning to pull away from UCF in the Los Angeles Super Regional opener.
Disrupting the norm will have to wait until Game 2 of supers, at least, for UCF's softball team . No. 8 UCLA, the nation's highest-scoring offense, belted another three home runs in a 9-1 victory on May 22 to open the best-of-three Los Angeles Super Regional in the NCAA Tournament.
Bri Alejandre, Kaniya Bragg and Rylee Slimp went deep for the Bruins (51-8), who plated six runs in the fifth inning to win via mercy rule. Megan Grant, the Division I home run leader with 40, walked in all three of her plate appearances. Taylor Tinsley pitched a three-hitter for the Bruins, though Sierra Humphreys tagged a towering home run to bust up the shutout effort.
UCF (41-18-1) will have its season on the line when it returns to Easton Stadium for Saturday's 10 p. m. first pitch.
“We’re going to be feisty, we’re going to be chippy tomorrow," Knights coach Cindy Ball-Malone said. "They’re going to have to beat us. ” Here are three takeaways from Game 1, which quickly got out of hand when UCF's pitchers lost command.