Langenfeld’s walk-off homer propels UCLA softball to 6-5 win over Arizona in Women’s College World Series
By Min Kang
June 7, 2010 8:12 p.m.
Years from now, softball fans will look back at this game, point to the figure wearing No. 31 on the screen, and agree that the game was won by her blood.
Megan Langenfeld had come way too far to let this moment slip away. Bleeding hand or not, she was determined to do whatever was in her power to win.
And what power it was.
The senior hit a walk-off solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and No. 5 UCLA (49-11) defeated No. 10 Arizona (52-13) in a 6-5 thriller at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
The Bruins are now just one win away from their 11th NCAA championship, and will play the second game of the Women’s College World Series championship round on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
“What was truly special about tonight was not just what Megan Langenfeld
did, but what this team did,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “There were so many heroes tonight. The team pulled Megan together, literally got in her face and said, ‘We’ve got your back, we’re going to win this ball game.’ This team has decided that it wants to win the championship this year, and everybody worked together to create an opportunity for the next Bruin.”
After junior shortstop Monica Harrison laced a two-out double down the left field line in the sixth inning to drive in two runs, the Bruins secured a 4-2 lead, and it seemed as if they were on their way to certain victory.
But the Wildcats responded in the top of the seventh. A two-run home run followed by a go-ahead solo shot put Arizona on pace to win the game, and forced Inouye-Perez to make a pitching change, reeling in Langenfeld for sophomore Aleah Macon, who got three outs to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the frame, a two-out double by senior catcher Kaila Shull with a runner on second base drove in the tying run to the plate.
For her part, Macon escaped the top of the eighth unscathed, giving up two hits and a walk but no runs. With their turn to bat, the Bruins again found themselves two outs away from their first postseason loss.
But Langenfeld came up to the plate nursing a right hand bleeding from cracked skin and simply delivered. She belted a 1-0 pitch to straightaway center, capping off what Harrison called an “ecstatic” performance.
“I was thinking, ‘Just be aggressive, and get a pitch to hit,” Langenfeld said. “The first pitch was a ball, and I was seeing it. The second pitch came, and it was right where I was looking. I just put a good swing on it, and once the ball hit off the bat, I told myself, ‘Oh my gosh, it has a chance.'”
It certainly seemed improbable, but the Bruins pulled off the stunning rally and now stand one step closer to the ultimate reward.
