NCAA Softball : UCLA Wins on No-Hitter by Boyd, 3-0

Tiffany Boyd pitched a no-hitter to lead UCLA to a 3-0 victory over South Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Division I softball championships Wednesday night.

In another game, Lori Thompson (21-7) pitched a three-hitter and stretched her string of consecutive scoreless innings to 74 as Cal Poly Pomona (43-21) scored a 1-0 victory over Oregon (53-17). Holly DeLuca hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning for the only run off Katie Wiese (41-12).

Boyd (17-2) struck out a career-high 15 batters and came within two outs of pitching a perfect game. With one out in the seventh inning, Boyd walked Stacy Agee on five pitches.

UCLA scored in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Kerry Dienelt hit her first home run of the season, a three-run blast.

UCLA (44-4) advanced to the second round on Friday. South Carolina (46-11) drops into the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tournament.