Game 1: UCLA 6, Arizona 2
It was an all-PAC 12 match up in the first winner’s bracket game on Friday evening between two of softball’s greatest: the Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins. These two teams met the first weekend in May in Los Angeles for the Bruins’ senior weekend; the Wildcats would take 2 out of 3 games in that series against the Bruins, who were named the regular season Co-PAC 12 champions.
Bubba Nickles started the top of the 3rd inning with a shot down the 3rd base line off the glove of Malia Martinez. Aaliyah Jordan reached on a hard hit ball to Jessie Harper, ruled an error. With three Bruins on base, Rachel Garcia produced a run with the RBI sacrifice fly, though the damage was minimized by an outstanding Hannah Martinez catch in the right-center field gap to potentially save a few runs.
Arizona’s Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza tied up the score 1-1 with a solo shot over the right field fence in the bottom of the 3rd on a good screwball, through her hands.
Great defense and pitching over the course of the next two innings would keep UCLA off the scoreboard. Carli Campbell made a fully-extended diving catch on the NCAA softball logo in left field, and Taylor McQuillin worked herself out of a 2-runners-on jam as the Bruins threatened to score in both the 4th and 5th.
The Bruins would reclaim the lead with a pinch-hit, full-count, solo home run off the bat of Malia Quarles, her 4th of the season.
Arizona started off the top of the 6th with a double in the right center field gap by Malia Martinez. Dejah Mulipola was hit by an inside pitch to put two Wildcats on with nobody out. Rylee Pierce’s sacrifice bunt moved two Wildcats into scoring position. Garcia then struck out Reyna Carranco on three straight rise balls, and Hannah Bowen flew out to to Briana Perez for the third out of the inning.
UCLA added to their lead in the top of the 7th inning with a Perez single and a double for Jordan to extend the Bruins’ lead to 3-1. After walks to Garcia and Taylor Pack to load the bases, a sacrifice fly looked to score Stevie Wisz from 3rd base; Wisz slammed on her brakes halfway down the line, but Arizona catcher Dejah Mulipola misplayed the throw home and was late on the tag of Wisz, who dove to touch home plate with her left hand.
Colleen Sullivan hit into what looked like a routine catch for Carli Campbell in left field, but the ball was dropped, allowing UCLA to score Garcia and Taylor Pack. UCLA scored three unearned runs in the top of the 7th inning for a 6-1 lead. Over the course of the first two games, the Bruins have capitalized on opposing mistakes, cashing in on seven unearned runs offensively.
Arizona’s second run of the game came off of Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza’s 2nd home run of the game with two outs. Garcia retired Jessie Harper on a ground out to Brianna Tautalafua for the final out of the game. UCLA took home the winner’s bracket game by a score of 6-2 and evened up the age-old PAC-12 rivalry at 2-2 on the 2019 season.
Game 2: Oklahoma 6, Oklahoma State 1
Oklahoma’s offense has scored in the first inning in four consecutive games.
After Sydney Romero grounded out to lead off the first, six straight Oklahoma hitters reached base. Fale Aviu and Caleigh Clifton scored on Jocelyn Alo’s single to right center, then Shay Knighten singled up the middle to score Alo.
Oklahoma State answered in the bottom of the frame. Giselle Juarez issued a leadoff walk to Rylee Bayless, who advanced on a sacrifice and scored on Michaela Richbourg’s single to center. Richbourg was the first Cowgirl to collect an RBI in the WCWS, other than Samantha Show.
Logan Simunek entered to pitch for the Cowgirls in the fifth inning, as the heart of Oklahoma’s lineup neared their third plate appearances. Following a 19-minute delay due to a power outage in the right field lights tower, Simunek got out of a jam and forced Grace Green to ground into a double play.
In the 6th, Oklahoma’s offense capitalized on free passes to extend their lead. Three runs crossed in the frame, via two walks and one hit-by-pitch. Simunek allowed two singles, two hit batters, and a walk before Samantha Clakley came in relief. The senior hadn’t pitched since May 17th, walked in a run, then notched a strikeout. Clakley struck out three of the five hitters she faced.
Shannon Saile entered in the 7th for the Sooners, making her third postseason appearance, and struck out two. Juarez picked up the win and held the Cowgirls to an earned run and struck out eight batters. In her second straight start, Juarez moved the ball well on multiple planes and used her offspeed, holding the Cowgirls to four hits. Oklahoma took advantage of every miscue, notched eight hits, and took borderline strikes for base hits. Though they have yet to knock a homerun, their hitters are executing consistently at the plate. Oklahoma will enjoy a day off on Saturday, and will return on Sunday to face the winner of Arizona and Florida/Alabama.
Remove the free passes from the ballgame, and Oklahoma State still had a shot to win until the very end. Show had been utilized consistently on the mound in the postseason, and Oklahoma was able to make adjustments. Four hitters other than Show logged hits against a fantastic Juarez in the circle, and will need to capitalize on production from the rest of the lineup to keep their season alive. Oklahoma State will face the winner of Washington/Minnesota in an elimination game on Saturday.
