UCLA softball to face LSU in first round of WCWS

Pitcher Rachel Garcia and UCLA softball will face LSU in the first round of the Women’s College World Series. (Photo courtesy Katie Meyers)

Since it became the first team to punch its ticket to the 2017 Women’s College World Series on Friday, UCLA got to watch as the rest of the field filled in this weekend.

The Bruins (47-13) found out their World Series first-round opponent Sunday as No. 13 LSU upset No. 4 Florida State in the Tallahassee Super Regional. The Tigers (47-20) lost the first game of the Super Regional, but bounced back to win two in a row and advance to their third straight World Series.

To win their first national championship since 2010, the Bruins have to survive a four-team, double-elimination bracket, then win a best-of-three series against the winner of the other World Series bracket. UCLA’s grouping also includes No. 1 Florida (55-8) and No. 9 Texas A&M (47-11).

The World Series starts June 1 in Oklahoma City.

UPDATED: No. 3 Oregon, No. 6 Washington, No. 10 Oklahoma and No. 15 Baylor make up the second bracket. Baylor upset Pac-12 champion Arizona, the No. 2 seed, in the Super Regional.

UCLA softball heading to third straight World Series

UCLA softball players celebrate their 1-0 win over Ole Miss that sent them to the Women’s College World Series. (Photo by Katie Meyers)

UCLA plowed its way through the playoffs to the Super Regional on Friday with the long ball. But when the Bruins needed one win to earn their third straight Women’s College World Series berth, they did it the old-fashioned way: with pitching and defense.

No. 5 UCLA beat No. 12 Mississippi on Friday 1-0 thanks to a strong combined pitching effort from Selina Ta’amilo and Rachel Garcia and team defense.

READ: UCLA heads to Oklahoma City

“We’re hitting all cylinders and it’s a big part of what has made UCLA softball the program that we are,” head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “It’s based on the ability for us to have pitching. It all starts in the circle. Defense wins championships.”

Madeline Jelenicki’s two-out RBI single in the first inning was all the scoring UCLA needed as Ta’amilo started in the circle and pitched three innings while giving up three hits. Garcia entered in relief and tossed four hitless innings to earn the win.

The Bruins are the first team to punch their ticket to Oklahoma City this year and will play the winner of the Tallahassee Super Regional between LSU and Florida State in the World Series, which begins June 1.

UCLA softball outlasts Ole Miss in 11 innings

An RBI single from Madeline Jelenicki in the 11th inning sealed UCLA’s thrilling 8-7 win over Mississippi in the NCAA Super Regional on Thursday after the Bruins came back twice on their last out at Easton Stadium.

READ: UCLA wins Super Regional opener with walk-off

Bubba Nickles rescued the Bruins with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the 10th inning that answered a two-run single from Ole Miss in the top of the frame. Delaney Spaulding‘s run scored on a wild pitch with two outs extended the game in the seventh inning.

Pitcher Rachel Garcia went from no-hitter to near-disaster in the sixth inning when she gave up five runs that erased UCLA’s early four-run lead. The redshirt freshman threw a career-high 232 pitches in 11 innings, while giving up career-worsts in walks (five), hits (11) and runs (seven). Her 12 strikeouts are a career-best.

UCLA can clinch its third straight Women’s College World Series berth with a win Friday at 6 p.m. at Easton Stadium.

Kylee Perez sets high standard for UCLA softball

Junior Kylee Perez leads UCLA in hitting heading into this weekend’s Super Regional against Mississippi. (Photo courtesy Katie Meyers)

Kylee Perez is a shortstop by nature, but the junior has turned into a formidable second baseman for UCLA.

While leading her team in hitting, Perez earned her first All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honor this year as her pairing with shortstop Delaney Spaulding proved to be the strength of UCLA’s team.

“There’s a mentality and a physicality about the second basemen in our program,” head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “They have this ability to be scrappy, high IQ, do whatever it takes for the team. It’s a unique position, but Kylee does an outstanding job playing it.”

Perez can sometimes be overshadowed on a team bursting with stars, but she is the unquestioned emotional leader for the fifth-seeded Bruins who host No. 12 Mississippi this weekend in an NCAA Super Regional.

More on how Perez sets the tone for the Bruins 

NCAA SOFTBALL SUPER REGIONAL

  • No. 5 UCLA (45-12) vs. No. 12 Mississippi (43-18)
  • Easton Stadium
  • Thursday, 6 p.m., ESPN
  • Friday, 6 p.m., ESPNU
  • Saturday, 4 p.m., ESPN (if necessary)

UCLA softball advances to Super Regional

UCLA’s Brianna Tautalafua shows her excitement after hitting a grand slam in the fifth inning during finals of the NCAA Softball Regional against Cal State Fullerton at Easton Stadium in UCLA in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 21, 2017. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Orange County Register/SCNG)

A grand slam by Brianna Tautalafua and a clutch strike out by Rachel Garcia decided two critical bases-loaded situations for the UCLA softball team that allowed the fifth-seeded Bruins to advance to the NCAA Super Regional after a 9-1 win over Cal State Fullerton on Sunday.

Garcia, who was starting her third straight game Sunday, was stellar down the stretch as she retired 12 of the final 13 batters. She worked out of a third-inning jam that proved to be one of the critical moments of the game. With the bases loaded and UCLA holding on to a one-run lead, Garcia struck out CSF catcher Kylie Padilla to retire the side and keep the Titans scoreless.

Tautalafua then hit a grand slam in the fifth inning, which was part of a five-run frame for the Bruins that broke a previously tight game open. She had three home runs and eight RBIs during UCLA’s three regional wins as the Bruins collected 27 total runs.

UCLA hosts Ole Miss in the Super Regional, which starts Thursday at Easton Stadium. Unlike previous years, the best-of-three series to decide who will advance to the Women’s College World Series, will be played with one game a day, with the third game if necessary instead of a three-game, two-day format.

MORE ON UCLA’S REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WIN