UCLA softball closes out St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational with walk-off loss

The Bruins’ five-game weekend ended the same way it started.

After sustaining a walk-off loss in extra innings Friday to Northwestern, No. 3 UCLA softball (7-3) ended its appearance at the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational with another walk-off defeat in the bottom of the eighth inning against undefeated No. 5 Florida State (10-0) on Sunday night.

But between the two last-pitch losses, UCLA earned two victories against Auburn (9-1) and No. 11 Texas (5-6) on Saturday and a win over Wisconsin (6-6) on Sunday morning to secure a 3-2 record for its weekend slate in Clearwater, Florida.

[Related: UCLA softball continues losing streak with loss to Northwestern in Florida]

Despite not leaving victorious in the game against Florida State, redshirt senior infielder Briana Perez said the contest was a fun experience, and the weekend overall gave her teammates a great opportunity to grow.

“That was definitely a blast,” Perez said. “Obviously not the outcome we wanted, … (but) that is why we go across the country and come to this tournament – just to get this experience, and get our young girls in front of a big crowd like this.”

In its first game Saturday, UCLA avenged Friday’s loss with a 9-0 six-inning mercy-rule victory over Auburn. Redshirt senior pitcher Holly Azevedo struck out a career-high 10 batters and pitched five scoreless innings, while the blue and gold offense relied on a three-run fourth frame and six-run sixth for its highest scoring total of the weekend.

The Bruins followed their 12-hit performance off the Tigers with eight hits against Texas, but they were limited to two runs – all in the first inning. The two scores were all UCLA needed as redshirt junior pitcher/first baseman Megan Faraimo tossed a complete game four hitter while surrendering a single unearned run to secure a 2-1 win.

During the victory, the blue and gold suffered a potentially season-altering loss when redshirt senior outfielder Aaliyah Jordan planted her leg on the first base bag and sustained a knee injury in the bottom of the third. The injury came two frames after she connected on a home run for her team’s only RBI of the game.

The two-time NFCA All-American didn’t play for the remainder of the weekend, and coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said the Bruins had to recover after losing their star.

“She’s our best player,” Inouye-Perez said. “(She) has great experience and she’s also a leader, but she’s also a big heart of our program, and I loved how our team responded when she couldn’t play. They stepped up, and they had each other’s backs.”

UCLA faced her absence and an early deficit against Wisconsin on Sunday but responded and extended its three-game win streak with a second straight eight-hit performance. After Azevedo gave up an unearned run, redshirt sophomore utility Maya Brady scored on the basepaths before redshirt senior infielder Kinsley Washington and Perez each hit two RBI doubles to close out the second inning.

Azevedo’s first inning included a leadoff walk and eventual run on an error, but she responded by pitching four perfect innings to complete a hitless five-inning appearance before graduate student pitcher Lauren Shaw closed the game with two scoreless innings in relief.

The Bruin defense supported its pair of pitchers with multiple defensive stops, including Perez’s leaping snow-cone catch and a relay from the outfield to Perez to snuff out a Badger triple attempt. The infielder said both the pitching staff and defense displayed their capabilities throughout the invitational.

“It was a really good weekend because we saw that the pitchers had the defense’s back and the defense had the pitchers’ back,” Perez said. “I’m just excited to stand behind Holly and Megan throughout the season. Honestly, no matter who gets the ball, we know it’s going to be a good game.”

Faraimo got the start in Sunday’s game against Florida State but was replaced by Azevedo in the bottom of the fourth after walking three batters and giving up three earned runs.

After Azevedo closed out the fourth to hold the deficit to one, Washington drove a home run to straight-away center in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. Although she was unable to record her fifth straight multi-hit game, the home run continued Washington’s streak of recording a hit in every game this season.

Azevedo tossed three more hitless innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh, but UCLA went scoreless in that span before Florida State squared up its first hit off the redshirt senior to drive in the winning run in the eighth.

Inouye-Perez said Azevedo’s performance against Florida State shows her potential to have a breakout season.

“That’s probably the thing that I’ll look forward to the most in this 2022 season,” Inouye-Perez said. “Holly has been a great team player. She has not had as many opportunities with Rachel Garcia and (Faraimo) being on her team, and this is a year for her to be able to do exactly what she did tonight.”

Azevedo allowed a combined two runs on three hits and fanned 21 hitters in her 13 2/3 innings pitched over the weekend. The fifth-year pitcher said her weekend performance made her even more excited for the rest of the year.

“This weekend definitely fired (me) up for what’s to come,” Azevedo said. “This last game, I came in in a big game, and that’s a really good team. Unfortunately, that’s not the way we want it to go, but I’m still proud of my teammates.”