The No. 3 ranked UCLA Bruins made short work of the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Conference softball tournament with a 19-5 run-rule win in the semifinals at the Maryland Softball Stadium on Friday.
UCLA collected a 6-1 win against No. 11 Penn State on Thursday and took it up a notch as they scored runs in all five innings against Wisconsin. Despite the Badgers besting No. 2 Oregon in the quarterfinals, the combination of senior right-handed pitcher Taylor Tinsley and freshman left-handed pitcher Natalie Cable held their batters to just seven hits, while the Bruins’ batters piled on runs at the plate.
Asserting dominance in the first
UCLA made sure they were in control of the game from the jump. Tinsley allowed two of the Badgers’ seven hits in the top of the first, but she kept them away from home plate to keep them run-less.
The Bruins got the bases loaded and scored two unearned runs off of a lined out and then a fielding error. Near the end of the first, junior utility Soo-Jin Berry blasted UCLA’s second hit of the game out of the park for a grand slam to propel the Bruins to a six-run lead.
Making history in the second
In the top of the second, Wisconsin scored two runs to cut into UCLA’s gargantuan lead, but the highlight of the inning was UCLA’s senior utility Megan Grant’s 37th home run of the season in the bottom of the second. Grant, whom won a national championship with the Bruins women’s basketball team earlier this year, tied Arizona’s Laura Espinoza’s record from 1995 to match NCAA Division I history of most home runs scored in a single season.
Four more in the third
Tinsley continued to limit the Badgers offense and allowed one hit for a single in the top of the third. Sophomore infielder Kaniya Bragg then got the scoring started with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. The Bruins made connected on three more pitches to get redshirt junior center fielder Alexis Ramirez and sophomore outfielder Rylee Slimp home for UCLA’s 10th and 11th runs of the game.
Piling on runs in the fourth
In the top of the fourth, Tinsley allowed her third run off of a solo shot to closeout her time on the mound. UCLA’s batters responded with eight runs off of eight hits in the bottom of the fourth.
With the bases loaded, redshirt junior infielder Ramsey Suarez hit a double to send two UCLA runners home. Freshman utility Jolyna Lamar followed it up with a double of her own, which also sent two Bruins across home plate. Lamar met her teammates at home immediately after with Slimp cracking a two-run homer to left field.
Two more doubles sent two more Bruins back to their den as UCLA roared to a 19-2 lead heading into the fifth with a run-rule in a sight.
Finishing the fifth
Cable stepped into the pitching circle in relief of Tinsley in the top of the fifth and allowed a two-run home run after walking her first batter. The freshman pitcher cleaned things up and struck out two batters swinging and another lined out for the Bruins to advance to the Big Ten Tournament title game.
UCLA will play No. 1 Nebraska in the Conference title game on Saturday with an anticipated start time of 10 a.m. PT.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA softball chews up Badgers in Big Ten Tournament semifinals
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
