The end is often inevitable
After riding a 22-game winning streak, No. 8 UCLA softball (28-4, Big Ten 9-1) was bested by No. 6 Nebraska (25-5, 7-0) 4-1. The Cornhuskers shut down one of the nation’s hottest lineups Friday night at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln to hand the Bruins their first conference loss of the season.
With the first three innings feeling like a pitcher’s duel, neither team produced any runs.
Two-way player Alexis Jensen started in the circle for the Cornhuskers, striking out four Bruins across three innings and preventing any hits.
Senior pitcher Taylor Tinsley started in the circle for the Bruins, looking strong in the game’s early action. She also did not allow a hit through the first three innings, but walked four batters across that span.
Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez was supportive of her starting pitcher, despite Tinsley’s third loss of the season. Inouye-Perez said that the team did not play up to its standards – with the Bruins’ lack of runs seeming uncharacteristic.
“I thought Taylor (Tinsley) pitched very well,” Inouye-Perez said. “They (Nebraska) definitely made some adjustments and got some key hits. On the flip side, we know it’s not an example of what we’ve been doing for quite a while. We just didn’t make the adjustments. We didn’t show up tonight. A great lesson, a great opportunity for us to be able to have a chance to respond tomorrow.”
The Bruins showed the first signs of life as they scored in the fourth inning off a right-side single through the infield from senior utility Megan Grant, which was then followed by a single from sophomore infielder Kaniya Bragg.
This left runners on the corners as infielder Bri Alejandre entered the batter’s box. On the fourth pitch that she saw, the freshman lined a ball up the middle to plate Grant. Alejandre said she knew what to look for as she stepped into that at-bat.
“Looking for that pitch that we had set planned and previous at-bats, adjusting and listening to coach Will (Will Oldham, Director of Player Development and Data Analytics) and the plan that he had for us,” Alejandre said. “Doing it for Tins (Tinsley) because she was really pitching her butt off in the circle.”
While the team celebrated the first run, the party stalled as the game progressed. Despite a run differential of +229, the Bruins were stifled against the Cornhuskers. Just four Bruins recorded a hit in the contest, and six had at least one strikeout.
The Nebraska bullpen boasts a 1.95 ERA, and the rotation showed its dominance, allowing just one walk across seven innings of play.
As the bottom of the fifth inning rolled around, the Cornhuskers did what they have often done this season – score runs when it matters most. Pitcher/utility Jordy Frahm was hit by a pitch, which allowed pitcher/utility Hannah Camenzind to homer over the left field wall, giving Nebraska the lead.
The Cornhuskers did not waver, as a double and a single in the bottom of the sixth inning gave them another run. As Tinsley remained in the game, she struggled to find the zone and walked in a run to get the Cornhuskers to four runs.
With Frahm entering the game in the circle to finish the job, she ended the game with a swinging strikeout against freshman utility Jolyna Lamar to move Nebraska’s win streak to 14 games while snapping the Bruins’ hot spell.
The Bruins will likely hope to put this game behind them and refocus on what was working well, with two games remaining in the weekend series.
“They know they are better than what we showed tonight – and they train hard, they prepare and we didn’t execute the plan tonight – and as a result, we didn’t get the outcome that we were looking for,” Inouye-Perez said. “There’s more action that needs to be done tomorrow, and I have strong faith that they will.”
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