UCLA softball leads weekend series against ASU with 8-6 victory
Senior third baseman Mysha Sataraka hit a three-run walk-off home run to beat the Arizona State Sun Devils 8-6 Friday night. (Ken Shin/Daily Bruin)
By Dylan Sanders
April 30, 2016 2:42 p.m.
Mysha Sataraka kicked off UCLA softball’s senior weekend in fitting fashion with a walk-off seventh inning home run.
The senior third baseman’s three run shot was one of two on the night that helped the Bruins (31-13-1, 12-5-1 Pac-12) outscore the Arizona State Sun Devils (27-20, 3-13 Pac-12) in their 8-6 victory Friday.
Sataraka’s first home run came in the bottom of the first inning, giving UCLA an immediate 2-0 lead.
Both teams then fell silent until the fourth, when ASU scored its first run off of a two-out double from Katee Aguirre. Freshman first baseman Brianna Tautalafua countered in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run of her own, increasing the Bruins’ lead to 3-1.
It wasn’t until the top of the sixth that sophomore pitcher Johanna Grauer, who started off strong in the circle for UCLA, succumbed to ASU’s relentless lineup. She began the inning by giving up a walk and three hits, including a two-run home run, all without a single out.
Fellow sophomore Selina Ta’amilo was brought in to relieve Grauer, but she too ran into trouble the following inning, allowing two more runs on a misplayed bunt and a single.
The Bruins headed into the bottom of the seventh down 6-3, but were quickly reinvigorated with a series of hits starting at the bottom of the lineup. Junior pinch hitter Jelly Felix led off the inning with the first of four straight singles that cut the Sun Devils’ lead to 6-5.
With runners on first and second, Sataraka rocked a 1-2 pitch into the netting above left center for her fifth RBI of the night, and 11th home run of the season.
UCLA will return to Easton Stadium tomorrow night at 7 p.m. for game two of its series against ASU.
