After a strong start, the UC Santa Barbara softball team struggled to fend off No. 9 national seed UCLA, suffering a 9-1 loss in its NCAA Tournament opener.
The Gauchos scored first in the top of the second inning and clung to a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning before the Bruins reeled off nine unanswered runs to close out the game.
“My big focus was to let us be loose and relaxed with how we may play the game. That’s when we are best and I thought we did that,” said UC Santa Barbara coach Jo Evans. “I have no qualms with my team in terms of how we came out and competed.”
UC Santa Barbara’s lone run of the game came on an RBI single by Delaina Ma’ae that scored Alexa Sams. The UCLA offense finally came to life in the bottom of the third inning when sophomore Kaitlin Terry launched a three-run homer.
The Bruins clung to the 3-1 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when they exploded for six runs on four hits, including a three-run homer by Jessica Clements and a two-run homer by Megan Grant that enacted the mercy-rule victory.
All of UCLA’s run’s in the bottom of the sixth inning came with two outs.
The Gauchos will face Arizona State in an elimination game on Saturday beginning at 4:30 p.m.