Confidence and composure often define the elite.
No. 11 UCLA softball (10-3) embodied both throughout three wins Thursday and Friday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, defeating Auburn (11-3) 23-1 in five innings to open the tournament before coming from behind to defeat Nevada (7-7) 6-5 and No. 14 Duke (9-6) 10-5.
Cyclical thematics were apparent throughout UCLA’s Thursday performance – the Bruins plated 23 runs and recorded 16 hits against the Tigers in the program’s 23rd appearance at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. Nearly cyclical was redshirt junior designated player/infielder Ramsey Suarez, whose nine total bases, three hits and seven RBIs were just a single-shy of the cycle.
“I trust my work, and I trust my team,” Suarez said. “Keeping it simple pushes it forward.”
Her team particularly dominated Auburn in the bottom of the third, amassing 18 runs – tied for the second-most scored in a single frame in NCAA history – on 10 hits and six walks.
Senior pitcher Taylor Tinsley notched consistent performances across the three contests. Although her fifth win was supported by crafty pitching and an offensive barrage – recording two strikeouts and forfeiting zero runs on 49 pitches against the 10th-best offense in the country – her sixth and seventh reflected composure in the clutch.
After limiting the damage and keeping the Wolfpack’s then-three-run lead within striking distance in the top of the fifth, Taylor watched as the Bruins flipped the script in the bottom of the frame.
The Bruins strung together four straight hits, including back-to-back doubles from sophomore outfielder Rylee Slimp and senior utility Megan Grant. Grant’s RBI double plated the third UCLA run, and senior infielder Jordan Woolery followed with an RBI single to bring Grant home.
Sophomore infielder Kaniya Bragg kept the line moving with a single of her own, which pushed the tying run into scoring position. Suarez, who missed all of the 2025 campaign due to injury, tied the game with an RBI single to complete the Bruin comeback.
And Bragg’s single in the bottom of the sixth plated Slimp, putting UCLA up 6-5.
Earlier in the contest, Grant’s third-inning game-tying home run marked the 200th RBI of her UCLA career. She is the seventh woman in Bruin history to reach that milestone – done so on her 10th blast of the year.
“Being greedy and getting it done,” Woolery said. “It’s about winning the day and winning each inning.”
That inning-by-inning mentality carried into the nightcap against Duke. Taylor’s shaky start, allowing two runs in the first inning, preceded a four-inning stretch in which she retired 10 consecutive batters on her way to a seven-inning, six-strikeout and five-run complete game against the Blue Devils.
While the Bruins found themselves in a multi-run deficit yet again, Woolery hammered a three-run home run in the bottom of the second – after Grant’s sacrifice-fly tied the game – to claim a lead the Bruins would never relinquish en route to their 10-5 triumph.
UCLA bats now shift their attention to the back half of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, where it will face Fresno State (4-6) and No. 22 South Carolina (8-4) on Saturday before concluding their tournament stint against No. 13 Texas A&M (9-4) on Sunday.
With reinvigorated confidence and composure, the Bruins look to carry that same identity ahead.
“Our goal is to be our best at the end,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “And I believe we’re on that path.”
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