UCLA softball is heading back to Oklahoma City. For the first time since their 2010 championship run, the Bruins earned a spot in the Women’s College World Series — sweeping No. 10 Missouri this weekend.
The Tigers fell today in a 10-6 decision, one that followed UCLA’s 7-4 comeback win on Saturday. The No. 7 Bruins will open the WCWS on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PT (ESPN2) against Pac-12 champion Oregon, which took two games in their regular-season series in April.
UCLA catcher Stephany LaRosa heads for home plate after hitting a home run during a 9-1 win over CSUN on Friday. The Bruins hit 10 home runs as they swept through their NCAA Regional in three games at Easton Stadium. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff)
UCLA softball will host its second straight NCAA Super Regionals this weekend, with No. 10 Missouri standing in the way of its first Women’s College World Series berth since 2010 — also the year of the Bruins’ last national title. The two teams met once before back in February, with UCLA triumphing 8-0 in six innings.
The upcoming schedule at Easton Stadium:
Saturday, May 23 — Game 1, 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 24 — Game 2, 12 p.m.
Sunday, May 24 — Game 3, 3 p.m. (if necessary)
The seventh-seeded Bruins are operating in peak form, coming off wins over CSUN (9-1, five innings), Texas (4-1), and San Diego State (8-0, six innings).
John Savage has groomed a long line of outstanding pitchers at UCLA. None of them ever pulled off what happened on Friday night.
To start the Bruins’ last Pac-12 home series of the season, James Kaprielian and David Berg combined to pitch 10 no-hit innings in a walk-off win over Arizona. It was the first no-hitter since UCLA baseball began taking records in 1946, and the first time the Wildcats had been no-hit since 1970 — eight years before they even joined the conference.
Kaprielian, who leads the league in strikeouts, tied his season-high with 11 at Jackie Robinson Stadium. He was brilliant through nine innings, retiring 14 straight batters from the third to the seventh. Berg, arguably the greatest closer in NCAA history, closed out the 10th before Kevin Kramer plated the winning run on a walk-off sac fly.
Earlier on Friday, UCLA softball began postseason play in a very different style, opening the NCAA Regional by mercy ruling CSUN in a 9-1 win. The Bruins hit three home runs in the third, shelling Matador pitcher Zoe Conley, who had only given up six homers all season.
UCLA is shooting to return to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2010.