As part of UCLA’s softball senior day festivities, the mothers of Megan Grant, Jordan Woolery and Taylor Tinsley threw out ceremonial first pitches to their respective daughters.
Some were better than others.
“I’ll say like a 6.5 out of 10,” Tinsley, the Bruins’ ace, quipped of her mother’s effort. “She just had to short-hop me.”
As far as a sendoff for one of the top departing classes in school history, UCLA notched a perfect score.
All three seniors made major contributions during the No. 5 Bruins’ 11-3 five-inning, run-rule victory over No. 11 Oregon on Sunday at Easton Stadium.
Tinsley (26-5) pitched 2 ⅓ scoreless innings of relief after having been at less than her best the previous two days, when the Ducks won the first two games in the series to snap UCLA’s 20-game home winning streak.
Grant tallied two hits, including a double down the right field line.
Woolery made perhaps the most fitting contribution, smashing a two-run homer for a team that’s going to go down as the best bunch of bashers in school history. Grant has walloped a school-record 35 homers, Woolery has 33 and freshman infielder Bri Alejandre has 20.
“There’s magical moments that happen on senior day,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “It’s kind of crazy; it always kind of happens.”
Grant’s homer total trails only Oklahoma’s Kendall Wells, who has 36. They’re both in pursuit of the NCAA record of 37 set by Arizona’s Laura Espinoza in 1995.
The Bruins (45-7 overall, 20-4 Big Ten) belted four homers against the Ducks (40-11, 20-4), extending their school- and Big Ten-record total to 173. UCLA is tied with Oklahoma for the most homers in the nation after Rylee Slimp, Aleena Garcia and Sofia Mujica also went deep.
“We definitely feed off each other,” Woolery said of a teamwide power display in which a school-record eight players have tallied double digits in homers. “It’s contagious, for sure.”
What it means
The Bruins bounced back from a rare two-game losing streak and regained some momentum heading into the postseason.
Woolery also added to another school record thanks to her homer. Her 106 RBIs lead the nation.
Turning point
With her team teetering in the third inning, Tinsley entered with two runners on base and two out.
She stranded both by getting Oregon’s Ayanna Shaw to fly out to center field as part of her best outing in the series.
“I feel like I definitely settled in today,” Tinsley said. “Obviously, I didn’t really have my best stuff the last two days.”
Did you see that?
Timea Gardiner and Amanda Muse, Grant’s teammates from the national championship UCLA women’s basketball team, came to cheer on the slugger alongside several scout team players and staffers.
“It just shows the support and who they are,” said Grant, who did not participate in senior day in her other sport because she had already switched over to softball. “It’s beyond basketball for them, it’s just seeing me shine — I really appreciate that.”
MVP
Along with Alejandre, the Bruins might have identified another next great slugger in Garcia, the redshirt freshman shortstop whose two-run homer to center field in the first inning was just the start of her big day.
Garcia drove in two more runs with a single through the left side of the infield as part of UCLA’s six-run second inning. Garcia has 16 homers this season.
Up next
UCLA opens play in the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday in College Park, Md.
