UCLA softball rallies past California Baptist in wild NCAA regional opener

Expand

LOS ANGELES - The UCLA softball team withstood a 10-run inning by California Baptist to walk away with a thrilling, 12-11 comeback win on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional.

Aleena Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning and CBU outfielder Stevie Robison overthrew to home plate, allowing leadoff hitter Rylee Slimp to score for a walk-off win.

"Bruin magic is real," UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. "And when we get everybody going in the right direction – they were all telling me we will win."

UCLA (48-8) is in its 27th straight NCAA Tournament and will play South Carolina (31-26) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Game 3 of the regional. CBU (43-18) will face Cal State Fullerton (40-14) in an elimination game at 4:30 p.m., with the winner of that game then facing the UCLA-South Carolina loser in another elimination game at 7 p.m.

Four different Bruins homered on Friday night in a game that lasted just over 3 hours at Easton Stadium, including Big Ten Player of the Year Jordan Woolery (3 for 4, 2 RBIs).

"It's a gauntlet," CBU head coach Brandon Telesco said. "One through nine, off the bench, it's unbelievable. They're just relentless. They take pitches. You look at some of the best hitters in the game – Grant's taking walks, not chasing. For us, it's difficult to pitch to."

Woolery hit her 34th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning to give UCLA a 2-0 win. She drove in Megan Grant, who was walked four times in the game, with her bomb over the right-center field wall.

The Lancers got on the board with a homer of their own in the top of the second when Victoria Macias hit a solo shot to center field.

Grant faced 10 pitches in a single at-bat in the bottom of the third and hit five foul balls before ultimately drawing a walk. Woolery singled to left field and moved her to second base, setting up Garcia for a three-run home run.

Two at-bats later, Soo-Jin Berry launched a two-run homer over the right field wall to score Kaniya Bragg and extend the lead to 6-1.

CBU repeatedly loaded the bases in the top of the fifth to drive in 10 runs, adding drama to the Lancers' first appearance in the tournament since becoming a Division I program in 2019.

"We love each other so much and with the confidence we have and when our defense and bats get rolling, we know we can do anything," junior Victoria Macias said.

Pinch hitter Kimberly Westover and Kenzie Farrier-Pilon both hit RBI singles to start the rally before Malachy Russell-Millen scored on a throwing error by Tinsley.

Ashlee Annett launched a three-run double to left-center field to give the Lancers their first lead of the night and Macias followed with a home run to left field.

The big hit prompted a pitching change, and the Bruins brought in sophomore Brynne Nally (5-1) to replace their ace, Taylor Tinsley.

"Super proud moment for Brynne to be able to come in and for her to have Taylor's back, which I think was a really big moment for us," Inouye-Perez said.

Inouye-Perez said she had not decided who would pitch on Saturday as of Friday night.

Nally gave up a solo home run to Sydney Peterson, then Robison singled on her second at-bat of the inning. She settled in, however, and the UCLA defense forced Jordyn Madrigal to line out and Russell-Millen to strike out to end the inning.

The Bruins loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth but couldn't put any runs on the board. The defense stepped up once again and induced three groundouts to hold off the Lancers in the top of the next frame.

UCLA scored five runs in the final two innings to complete its comeback.

The offense scratched out two of those runs in the bottom of the sixth. Slimp was walked, Woolery doubled down the left field line and Garcia was walked to load the bases. Bri Alejandre reached base on a fielder's choice to score Slimp and Bragg hit an RBI single, which cut CBU's lead to 11-8.

Jolyna Lamar hit a two-run home run in the final inning to tie the score and give Slimp the chance to score the game-winning run.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 12:49 AM.