What a difference a year makes.
Last year, the Bruins fell to the Antelopes in their NCAA tournament opener then proceeded to fall out of the tournament in their next game.
On Friday evening, freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Terry blanked the Antelopes, yielding just two hits.
Spearheaded by Terry and a two-homer night from redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios, No. 6 seed UCLA softball (38-10, 17-4 Pac-12) cruised past Grand Canyon (48-12, 23-3 WAC) by a score of 9-0 in a five-inning, run-rule victory. After falling to the Antelopes last year, the Bruins shut out the Grand Canyon offense.
“She’s (Terry) just really locked in,” Palacios said. “I think we need to give her more praise, the way she pitched today.”
In her first NCAA tournament game, Terry showed no signs of nerves, retiring the first three batters she faced.
With bases loaded and nobody out, a sacrifice fly brought home the first run for the Bruins, but at the cost of two outs as Palacios was tagged out in an attempt to advance to second base. Antelope pitcher Hailey Hudson got out of the jam without further damage.
Terry responded with an escape act of her own.
With just one out, back-to-back hits put Grand Canyon runners on second and third base. Terry punched out the next two Antelope hitters, stranding two in scoring position and preserving the lead.
“She makes a mistake, and a hitter gets a hit, and she can lock back in and settle in,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “That’s just the sign of what great pitchers do.”
Terry would not yield another hit.
A lead-off triple from redshirt senior infielder Seneca Curo in the second inning led to another bases loaded, nobody out situation for the Bruins.
This time, they would capitalize.
Redshirt senior shortstop Maya Brady’s second double of the night drove in a pair of runs to build a quick 3-0 advantage.
And two batters later, Palacios doubled the lead.
With two runners on, she launched a towering fly ball into the trees over the right field netting for her team-leading 16th home run of the year.
UCLA’s lineup once again put traffic on the basepaths in the third frame. A double by graduate student outfielder Jadelyn Allchin drove in another run to put the Bruins up by seven.
“Tonight is a night that I’m just really proud of our offense,” Inouye-Perez said. “I credit the coaches, I credit the players – their ability to adjust, their ability to come through in big, critical moments.”
While Terry did not require much help from the defense – striking out seven on the night – they were air-tight when given a chance.
A leaping grab by Brady and running catches in the outfield helped Terry keep runners off the bases.
“Before every inning we go out there, we say, ‘For KT, for Tins (sophomore pitcher Taylor Tinsley),’” Brady said. “For every single player, we really dedicate just going out there and doing our job for them.”
After a scoreless top of the fifth held the Bruins’ lead steady at seven, they entered the bottom half of the inning with a chance to win it.
With a runner on, Palacios stepped into the box and rocketed out her second home run to the opposite field – her fourth and fifth RBIs on the night.
Remaining in the winners’ bracket, UCLA will return to Easton Stadium to play Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon.
