UCLA weekend recap: Softball wins series vs. No. 1 Oregon

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Redshirt freshman Rachael Garcia led No. 9 UCLA to a series victory over No. 1 Oregon at Easton Stadium with 10 shutout innings and two wins in the circle this past weekend.

The former Gatorade National Player of the Year tossed a complete-game, five-hit shutout in Friday’s 2-0 victory that snapped Oregon’s 35-game winning streak to start the season. Garcia earned another win Saturday in relief, pitching three scoreless innings as UCLA won 1-0 in extra innings on a passed ball.

Since getting swept by Utah in its first Pac-12 series, the Bruins (28-10, 4-5 Pac-12) have bounced back with back-to-back series victories, taking two of three from Washington on the road two weeks ago.

“As a team, we came together, we made our adjustments,” Garcia told Pac-12 Networks after Saturday’s win. “We came out last week and this week and the team is just doing great together as a whole.”

The Ducks (36-2, 9-2 Pac-12) avoided the sweep with an 11-4 win Sunday. Garcia, pitching in her third straight game, gave up five hits and three earned runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched as the Bruins committed three errors.

Elsewhere in UCLA athletics:

  • Beach volleyball‘s school-record winning streak grew to 23 with four more victories at the Battle at the Beach. The No. 3 Bruins (25-2) breezed through Washington and Concordia on Saturday, winning 4-1 and 5-0, respectively, before notching two top-10 wins Sunday. Nicole and Megan McNamara clinched UCLA’s 3-2 win over No. 5 Long Beach State on Sunday with a three-set (21-17, 23-25, 15-11) victory on court No. 1. The Bruins finished the event with a 4-1 win over No. 8 Arizona.
  • After losing its first two games against Washington, baseball came back Sunday to avoid the sweep with a walk-off 6-5 win Sunday at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins (14-15, 7-5 Pac-12) lost 7-3 on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday.
  • Alexa Tielmann‘s four goals led women’s water polo to a 13-5 road win over No. 4 Arizona State on Saturday. The fifth-year senior has 10 goals in the past four games as No. 3 UCLA (18-1, 4-0 MPSF) stretched its winning streak to eight games.
  • Men’s volleyball lost back-to-back four-set matches to Hawai’i to finish the regular season. The Bruins (17-9, 10-8 MPSF) face UC Irvine on Saturday in the MPSF Quarterfinals.
  • Women’s tennis grabbed back-to-back sweeps at home against Colorado and Utah. The Bruins (12-5, 6-1 Pac-12) didn’t drop a set in either 4-0 victory.
  • Although rain cancelled its match against Cal on Friday, men’s tennis still moved into No. 1 spot in the Pac-12 with a 4-2 win over Stanford on Sunday in Palo Alto. The No. 10 Bruins (14-3, 3-0 Pac-12) are the only undefeated team in the conference rankings as No. 5 USC lost to Stanford this past weekend.