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UCLA softball gains first loss of season in Mark Campbell Invitational

Redshirt senior infielder Briana Perez assumes a batting stance during No. 3 UCLA softball’s victory over UC San Diego on Friday. Perez collected a team-high four hits, including his first home run of the season, during the Mark Campbell Invitational on Saturday. (Kaiya Pomeroy-Tso/Daily Bruin senior staff)

SOFTBALL


Mississippi State0
No. 3 UCLA8
No. 1 Oklahoma4
No. 3 UCLA1

By Jordan Coyle

Feb. 12, 2022 7:36 p.m.

This post was updated Feb. 13 at 10:51 p.m.

The Bruins picked up their first loss of the season in a Women’s College World Series rematch.

Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said her team did not play well enough to defeat the reigning NCAA champions.

“We didn’t play good enough to win tonight,” said Inouye-Perez. “We made errors. We didn’t take advantage of opportunities. Great teams put themselves in a position to win, and we had those opportunities to be able to tie and take the lead and didn’t capitalize.”

No. 3 UCLA softball (4-1) faced Mississippi State (1-2) and Oklahoma (4-0) on Saturday in the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine. The Bruins defeated Mississippi State 8-0 in five innings via mercy rule, before falling to No. 1 Oklahoma in a 2021 WCWS rematch by a score of 4-1.

After putting up 17 combined runs against UC San Diego and Nevada on Friday, it didn’t take long for the Bruins’ bats to come alive against the Bulldogs.

UCLA scored four runs off four hits in the first inning, capped off by a two-RBI double from freshman utility Savannah Pola. The following period, redshirt senior infielder Briana Perez went yard for the first time this season with a solo shot to center field.

Perez went 3-for-3 against Mississippi State with a single, double and home run, nearly hitting for the cycle.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit, but my teammates have allowed me to take the pressure off myself and get back to where I was,” Perez said. “I took the pressure off myself because my team allowed me to do that.”

Redshirt junior utility Anna Vines ended the game when she came in as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the fifth, as her RBI double into right-center field secured the mercy-rule victory.

Against the Bulldogs, the Bruins’ pitchers continued their shutout streak. Redshirt junior pitcher/first baseman Megan Faraimo was in the circle for the first four innings, giving up just three hits and recording four strikeouts before graduate student pitcher Lauren Shaw came in to close out the game in the fifth.

However, the streak ended in the second inning of UCLA’s second contest of the day after redshirt senior pitcher Holly Azevedo gave up a double and an RBI single to Oklahoma. The Sooners were held to one run in the period, as Shaw worked out of a bases-loaded jam after entering the game for Azevedo.

It wasn’t long until the Bruins tied up the game at one.

During the top of the third, Vines reached first on a walk and moved over to second after redshirt sophomore utility Seneca Curo laid down a sacrifice bunt. A Perez single, UCLA’s first hit of the game, allowed Vines to reach third, while an error by Oklahoma catcher Kinzie Hansen enabled the redshirt junior to steal home.

Oklahoma regained control of the lead in the same frame, scoring off a pair of RBI singles. Faraimo entered the game in the midst of the Sooners’ third inning run, becoming the third Bruin pitcher to see time in the contest.

A string of UCLA errors in the bottom of the sixth allowed three Sooners to get on base, with an error by Vines resulting in another Oklahoma score.

In a game that was largely a pitcher’s duel, the Bruin offense saw its season averages fall against Sooner pitcher Jordy Bahl. Bahl, who finished the contest with 14 strikeouts, held UCLA to just four hits over seven innings.

Azevedo, who pitched a no-hitter Thursday before giving up one run against Oklahoma, said Saturday’s top-five matchup was great preparation for the postseason.

“It’s disappointing at first, but we have to remind ourselves that we do have three, four months to go and that this is just a good challenge to see where we’re at,” Azevedo said. “We have this time before championship play, so we will definitely be prepared.”

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Jordan Coyle | Sports contributor
Coyle is currently a Sports contributor on the softball beat.
Coyle is currently a Sports contributor on the softball beat.
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