Garcia propels softball to 4-3 victory against Arizona State
Redshirt freshman Rachel Garcia broke the 3-3 tie with a solo home run in the top of the seventh to give No. 10 UCLA the lead on the road against ASU. Garcia, who was also the starting pitcher, had an RBI in the top of the third to score the Bruins’ first run of the night. (Amy Dixon/Daily Bruin)
By David Gottlieb
May 11, 2017 11:33 p.m.
Rachel Garcia threw a complete game and hit a go-ahead homer to give the Bruins the win.
The redshirt freshman fired seven innings, yielding five hits – all singles – and three runs in No. 10 UCLA softball’s (40-13, 14-8 Pac-12) 4-3 victory over No. 22 Arizona State (30-18, 9-13) on Thursday night.
She also stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh inning with the game tied at three. Garcia sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall in center field to give the Bruins the lead.
“Coach had a talk with me saying, ‘Be prepared on that inside pitch,'” Garcia told Pac-12 Networks. “So I saw that pitch and I swung.”
The Bruins got their first runs of the game in the third inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Garcia and senior left fielder Gabrielle Maurice. UCLA added another in the top of the fourth on a solo shot from senior shortstop Delaney Spaulding.
ASU answered back with three runs on four singles in the bottom of the fourth. The third run the Sun Devils scored was unearned due to a throwing error by Maurice.
Garcia struck out the last batter of the game, her eighth strikeout of the game, to seal the victory for the Bruins.
UCLA will finish its three-game series against Arizona State with a pair of games Friday and Saturday.
