Megan Langenfeld’s homer gives UCLA a walk-off win

UCLA’s Megan Langenfeld did not get down.

Not too much anyway.

The senior from Bakersfield acknowledged that she was momentarily discouraged Monday after surrendering consecutive seventh-inning home runs that allowed Arizona to take the lead in the opening game of the Women’s College World Series finals, but Langenfeld quickly regrouped.

In the bottom of the eighth, she stepped to the plate and belted a walk-off home run against Wildcats starter Kenzie Fowler that gave UCLA a 6-5 victory at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

“I knew somehow, some way it was going to come back around,” Langenfeld said in a telephone interview. “This game wasn’t done yet.”

Langenfeld’s blast, her second homer of the game and 19th of the season, put the Bruins one victory away from their 11th national title. UCLA (49-11) and Arizona (52-13) play Tuesday at 5 p.m. If Arizona wins, the final game will be played Wednesday.

“As far as the ending, there’s nothing that surprises me,” UCLA Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said in a telephone interview. “There is something special about this team.”

Arizona, seeking its ninth title, looked as if it would be the team celebrating after K’Lee Arredondo and Stacie Chambers homered against Langenfeld, giving the Wildcats a 5-4 lead.

UCLA got a break in the home half of the seventh when Arizona outfielders, attempting to avoid a collision, let a two-out fly ball hit by Dani Yudin drop untouched. Yudin wound up on second base and Kaila Shull hit a double to right to tie the score and send the game into extra innings.

Arizona loaded the bases against Bruins reliever Aleah Macon in the top of the eighth, but Macon, a sophomore from Upland, struck out Chambers to end the threat.

That set the stage for Langenfeld, who came to the plate against Fowler with two outs.

“I was kind of looking for something on the outside corner because that was the pitch I struggled on in my previous at-bat,” said Langenfeld, who bats left-handed. “I hit it solid on the barrel. I definitely thought it had a chance.”

Macon (12-1) pitched two scoreless innings. Fowler (38-8) struck out 12.

gary.klein@latimes.com

Klein reported from Los Angeles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.