UCLA softball began its 2025 Women’s College World Series with a 4-2 win over Big Ten rival Oregon. The Bruins partied through multiple light outages and a strong outing from Duck starter Lyndsey Grein before graduate student Jessica Clements connected with a walk-off home run for the Bruins in the bottom of the seventh.
Bruin starter Kaitlyn Terry was pretty great herself. The sophomore allowed just two runs and otherwise shut down a pesky Duck lineup. Terry allowed only four Oregon hits and struck out six, throwing a complete game.
During the first inning, there were multiple delays. The lights at Devon Park in Oklahoma City kept going out. The delays turned into rallying cries for each school’s fan base that made the trip for the Women’s College World Series. The unexpected interruptions set up the spirited environment for a razor-close clash between the two talented teams and conference rivals.
Grein blanked the UCLA offense through three innings, but in the fourth, sophomore catcher Alexis Ramirez put the Bruins on top 2-1 with a sky-scraping two-run home run after a single by junior Jordan Woolery began the inning.
UCLA would eventually chase Grein from the game in the sixth inning after Woolery hit another leadoff single and junior Megan Grant worked a walk. The Bruins squandered the opportunity with a strikeout and pickoff ending the scoring threat and keeping it a 2-1 game.
It looked as though Terry was going to work around a leadoff double in the seventh inning after Woolery — at third base — cleanly fielde a grounder and made an apparent 5-2 putout to cut down the game-tying run at the plate. However, after a long review, the runner was ruled safe when obstruction was called on Ramirez for blocking the plate on a play that wasn’t even close. The bizarre call tied the game at 2-2.
The call would make the win even sweeter, however. Clements slugged a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the inning to end the game the right way for UCLA.
With the win, UCLA will now face No. 12 Texas Tech on Saturday while moving Oregon one game away from elimination. The Ducks will face Ole Miss in an elimination game on Friday.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA walks off Oregon, begins Women’s College World Series with epic lightning bolt
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
