- Share via
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Oklahoma City bound.
UCLA softball is heading to its 33rd Women’s College World Series after rallying from a game down to win the Columbia Super Regional, defeating South Carolina 5-0 in the series decider at Beckham Field on Sunday.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “To be able to be a final eight [team] is a goal, and the ability to overcome day one is because they [players] were so committed to the process and allowed them to take a trip back to OKC.”
After Jordan Woolery kept UCLA’s (54-11) season alive with a walk-off home run in Game 2, she picked up right where she left off with a first-inning RBI single off South Carolina (44-17) starting pitcher Sam Gress. The Bruins failed to tack on runs with the bases loaded, but Kaitlyn Terry made sure the early tally was enough.
Terry threw 5 ⅔ innings of two-hit shutout ball with four strikeouts before giving way to Saturday’s starting pitcher, Taylor Tinsley. She allowed only one runner into scoring position through the first five innings, handcuffing South Carolina’s powerful offense all day. Between Terry and Tinsley over the last two days, the Bruins only allowed four runs on 12 hits, all singles, across their two victories.
“I think honestly it was just spinning the ball and trusting my stuff,” Terry said.
From nine runs allowed on Friday to four Saturday and a shutout in the rubber game, UCLA’s pitching only improved as the series went on.
“We owned the fact that we didn’t play our game on Friday,” Inouye-Perez said. “With that being said regardless of the score — and it was a big one — we looked back at video and we didn’t play our game.”
Sunday, it was a much different story.
Woolery delivered a critical insurance run in the fifth inning when she poked an infield single through the right side of South Carolina’s infield shift to bring Jessica Clements around after her one-out double.
The Bruins faced one tight spot, but it featured two heart-in-mouth moments. Quincee Lilio drew a lead-off walk, bringing Karley Shelton to the plate as the tying run.
Shelton crushed one to deep right field, but the ball died on the warning track for a loud first out. Then South Carolina’s home run leader Arianna Rodi stepped up, and put one to almost an identical spot. Two would-be game-tying swings, two outs just shy of the wall.
“They got on the pitches,” Terry said. “But I knew [right fielder] Liesl [Osteen] was going to be there. At the end of the day, she was there.”
After Tinsley pitched out of a jam with the tying runs on base in the sixth, UCLA added three runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach thanks to back-to-back RBIs from Rylee Slimp and Alexis Ramirez.
The Bruins enter the Columbia Super Regional after their sluggers had 13 RBIs in winning their own regional; they have combined for a record 161 this season.
“We have to keep going and pushing and never letting up,” second baseman Savannah Pola said about the insurance runs. “I think that was a good example yesterday, two outs, bottom of the seventh. You just can never relax.”
Tinsley handled one final inning, and a hard-fought series ended when South Carolina left fielder Emily Vinson popped out to shortstop Kaniya Bragg.
Back to the Women’s College World Series, with a familiar opponent waiting.
UCLA will play fellow Big Ten school Oregon on Thursday, one of two opponents it dropped a conference series against all season.
The Bruins lost two of three games in Eugene back in April, but the slate is clean and as always, the focus will be inward.
“I think the best part about it for us is we know we didn’t play our game that weekend,” Inouye-Perez said. “We are a different team.”
Texas Tech and Mississippi will round out UCLA’s half of the bracket.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
