Softball guarantees spot as Pac-12 champion with win over Arizona

The Bruins are conference champions.

No. 2 UCLA softball (46-4, 20-3 Pac-12) came back to top No. 6 Arizona (41-12, 18-5) 5-4 on Friday night at Easton Stadium, joint-clinching the Pac-12 trophy with No. 3 Washington for its first conference title since 2009. Friday’s game marked the Bruins’ fifth comeback win in conference play this year.

Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said she was amazed by both teams’ performances, given their historic rivalry, and that the game was a microcosm of conference play this entire season.

“Tonight was made for TV,” Inouye-Perez said. “There were big time moments where we felt the pressure and intensity, and we needed it – our pitchers have thrown almost complete games this entire year and so … the best thing that could have happened to us was to play against a team like Arizona.”

Freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo managed four outs in her 21st appearance as a Bruin, striking out two batters and walking three with one earned run. Faraimo was pulled in the second inning for redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia, who was later removed after two outs for giving up a two-run home run to right-center.

“(Faraimo) was getting frustrated with the umpire’s strike zone,” Inouye-Perez said. “Whenever we have a pitcher that is not pairing up well with the umpire, they have to do more (work) and it’s not a good thing against a team like Arizona. She had three passes and used all three, so I ended up pulling her.”

Inouye-Perez then turned to sophomore pitcher Holly Azevedo – UCLA’s only undefeated pitcher in its rotation – to go the distance. Azevedo proceeded to strike out four batters and allow one run in four innings.

After loading the bases in the top of the seventh via two hit batters and a single, Azevedo was quickly replaced by Garcia, who earned her third save of 2019 against the same set of Arizona batters that she had previously fallen to in the third inning.

Azevedo said UCLA managed to win by working collectively and staying composed, but she was frustrated by the events in the seventh despite picking up her 11th win of the season.

“I think that in the seventh inning, I was doing too much,” Azevedo said. “In softball and in baseball, when you start opening up and doing too much, you can get a bit erratic and inconsistent. I’m just grateful that my teammates had my back.”

Senior first baseman Taylor Pack catalyzed the Bruins’ offense earlier on with a two-run home run to deep left in the third, before junior outfielder Bubba Nickles hit a one-run single in the fourth to erase Arizona’s lead.

Redshirt sophomore outfielder Aaliyah Jordan then hit a go-ahead two-run double after Nickles’ at-bat to complete the comeback.

Jordan said she was proud of converting her chance to move runners and put UCLA ahead after struggling earlier in the game.

“It felt great, especially to go opposite-field, because I’ve been working on it for what feels like literally three months,” Jordan said. “I’m happy to finally have that outcome and come through for my team after many opportunities of not being able to.”

The Bruins can become sole owners of the 2019 Pac-12 title if they win their final game against Arizona on Saturday afternoon.