UCLA softball continues conference success with pair of wins against Oregon

The Bruins came from behind to secure the victory on Friday.

But on Saturday, there was no deficit to overcome for the blue and gold.

No. 3 UCLA softball (30-3, 8-0 Pac-12) extended its winning streak to 23 games with a pair of wins at Easton Stadium to begin its three-game series against No. 12 Oregon (24-7, 4-4). The blue and gold began the weekend with a come-from-behind 3-1 triumph Friday night before earning a wire-to-wire 5-2 victory Saturday to extend its perfect start to conference play.

With redshirt junior pitcher/first basemen Megan Faraimo and redshirt senior pitcher Holly Azevedo holding the Ducks’ offense – which ranked sixth in the country at 7.31 runs per game entering Friday – to three combined runs in the first two games, redshirt senior infielder Briana Perez said the duo has earned its praise in practice.

“They’ve been insane this year,” Perez said. “They work absurd amounts of time during practice. It’s just really fun to play behind them and the energy that they give us. We can really feed off of it.”

The Bruin offense came out swinging in the series opener but failed to turn multiple baserunners into runs in the first two innings.

After the Ducks survived a first-inning scare, they came one strike away from a second consecutive 1-2-3 inning offensively before outfielder Ariel Carlson hit a two-out, two-strike pitch deep over the right center field wall to put the visiting team up one.

The Bruins appeared to answer with a two-out liner from Perez in the bottom of the frame, but a throw from the Oregon left-fielder just beat out a headfirst dive from Faraimo at home plate to keep UCLA behind 1-0.

After her failed attempt to tie the game on the basepaths, Faraimo shut out the Ducks for the remainder of the game, allowing three more hits and a walk in the final five innings.

With Faraimo lights out in the circle, UCLA’s offense eventually heated up.

Redshirt sophomore utility Maya Brady led off the bottom of the fourth with a base hit up the middle, and redshirt sophomore utility Seneca Curo followed it up with a hit into shallow right-center field that deflected off the cleats of Carlson. The slight delay allowed Brady to round third and barely beat the eventual throw to tie the contest.

“Whoever gets it done, it’s not always going to be the same person,” Perez said. “She (Curo) works her butt off in practice day in and day out, and the team is honestly just beyond stoked for her.”

The Bruins took the lead an inning later after Perez’s leadoff triple was rewarded by freshman utility Savannah Pola’s RBI double in the fifth. Redshirt sophomore catcher/first baseman Alyssa Garcia capped off UCLA’s scoring with a solo shot to right-center in the bottom of the sixth before Faraimo struck out the side in the top of the seventh to complete the 3-1 win.

“Offense is not always going to be able to be a luxury,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “We’re not entitled to have 10-plus hits and score 10-plus runs, so we’ve got to stay in the game defensively.”

Unlike Friday’s series opener, the Bruins didn’t waste any time getting on the board Saturday night.

Perez drilled Oregon’s first pitch between the center and right fielders for a double. After Perez advanced to third on a wild pitch, redshirt infielder Delanie Wisz came up two batters later and hit a high, opposite-field drive down the right-field line for a two-run home run.

After helping to protect UCLA’s lead in the top of the third by forcing a pickle defensively, Curo put the game out of reach later in the contest with her bat.

With the lead pushed to 3-1 thanks to an RBI single from Wisz, Curo delivered with her first longball of the season.

The third-year Bruin crushed a high fly ball deep over the left center field wall for a two-run shot to extend UCLA’s lead to 5-1.

“I’m just so happy and grateful that I get to contribute any way I can for the team,” Curo said.

The deep drive – Curo’s first home run in more than two years – was her third extra-base hit of the campaign and drove in the final runs of UCLA’s 23rd-straight win.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest hits of her career as a Bruin,” Inouye-Perez said. “One of the biggest compliments of this team is we’re not relying on any one hitter. … There’s a lot of Bruins that are doing things.”