With tough victories in Florida, UCLA softball stretches winning streak to 12

This post was updated Feb. 20 at 10:55 p.m.

With the Bruins down to their final out, up came Savannah Pola with a chance at redemption.

The sophomore utility, who was moved to designated player after making a critical throwing error that sparked a three-run Louisiana rally, entered the at-bat 0-for-3.

On a 1-0 count, Pola smacked a ball into left-center field, knocking in the tying run from second and bringing up Maya Brady. The redshirt junior utility, who also made an error in Louisiana’s fourth-inning rally, singled to right.

Pola raced to third and, without hesitation, sprinted home after a throwing error, diving headfirst into home plate to beat the catcher’s tag.

Sparked by Pola’s timely play, No. 2 UCLA softball (12-0) completed a 4-3 comeback victory over Louisiana (5-5) on Sunday, capping a perfect 5-0 stretch at the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational. On Saturday, the blue and gold defeated No. 6 Florida State (9-2) 6-4 and No. 8 Virginia Tech (7-3) 8-4.

“It was an emotional moment. I started tearing up,” Pola said. “Them (my teammates) being there for me and having my back and showing that I can redeem myself just made me so happy-sad.”

Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said Pola’s timely hitting after the error earlier in the game exemplified her team’s mentality.

“​​It’s not what happens, but it’s what you do next. That is your defining moment. And this team showed exactly that,” Inouye-Perez said.

Inouye Perez started her third different pitcher in as many games when she trotted out freshman pitcher Taylor Tinsley against Florida State.

But Tinsley’s second career start did not go as well as her first – a no-hitter against CSU Bakersfield a week prior.

The freshman escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, but two more hits in the second was enough to convince Inouye-Perez to replace the freshman with graduate student pitcher Lauren Shaw. Shaw faced only one batter, giving up an RBI single, before she was pulled for redshirt senior pitcher Megan Faraimo.

Florida State started 2022 All-ACC First Team pitcher Mack Leonard, who limited UCLA to one hit across four innings of work.

With Leonard out of the game, the Bruins’ first big chance came in the fifth. A leadoff double, a walk and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. But UCLA was unable to capitalize.

The sixth inning, however, was a different story.

The Bruins loaded the bases with one out before the Seminoles brought in 2022 second-team All-American Kathryn Sandercock in relief. Sandercock got a pop-out to first for the second out, but walked the following Bruin to bring in UCLA’s first run of the game.

Next up was redshirt junior utility Seneca Curo, who roped an 0-1 fastball down the left-field line for a bases-clearing double to put the Bruins up 4-2.

Faraimo, who retired the first 11 batters she faced, could not contain Florida State in the sixth after a two-out, two-run single evened the score at 4-4.

In the top of the seventh, the Bruins responded right back. Freshman utility Megan Grant singled on an 0-2 fastball, driving in a pair and knocking Sandercock out of the game.

The runs provided substantial insurance for Faraimo, who closed out the win with a 1-2-3 inning.

“We just play for each other,” said freshman infielder Jordan Woolery. “We know the next person in the lineup is going to have our back and regardless of our outcome, someone’s going to come through for the team.”

UCLA waited approximately three hours for its next game against Virginia Tech, but its offense didn’t miss a beat.

In the bottom of the first inning, UCLA scored six runs on eight hits and brought 12 hitters to the plate. Virginia Tech’s starting pitcher Bre Peck lasted only two-thirds of an inning before being replaced.

Graduate student pitcher Brooke Yanez took the circle for UCLA, navigating a couple of jams and pitching five innings while giving up five hits and four runs, two of which were earned. Faraimo closed the game once again, striking out five of the six batters she faced.

The following morning against Louisiana, UCLA struck first when redshirt junior catcher Sharlize Palacios blasted a solo shot in the top of the second for her third home run of the season. Freshman utility Kennedy Powell would extend that lead with a two-out, RBI single in the top of the fourth.

Starting in the circle for the second time of the weekend, Tinsley surrendered one hit and one walk through 3.2 innings, but was pulled after errors from Pola and Brady allowed the Ragin’ Cajuns to get on the board.

Louisiana would take a 3-2 lead with a two-run double off Faraimo, the first batter she faced after replacing Tinsley. And if junior outfielder Lauryn Carter hadn’t later made a catch at the warning track in the fifth and thrown out the runner at first, that lead might’ve grown.

In the seventh inning, the ESPN broadcast panned to the UCLA dugout, showing players donning backwards headgear and bananas on their heads.

“The bananas, that one’s new,” Faraimo said. “That’s for (redshirt senior utility) Anna Vines because we have a cheer for her that says ‘Anna bananas,’ and we had bananas today.”

Evidently riding the luck of the bananas – and the heroics of Pola and Brady – the Bruins rallied to tie and take the lead in the seventh, giving the ball back to Faraimo to record the final out for the fourth consecutive contest.

“I don’t know if it’s a role that I expect to play, but it’s a role that I’m always ready for,” said Faraimo, who leaves Florida with a 7-0 record and a 1.26 ERA.

And after playing five games in four days against their toughest competition yet this season, Inouye-Perez said, the Bruins are feeling the wear and tear.

“Everyone’s literally physically and mentally exhausted right now,” Inouye-Perez said. “We came out here to get challenged and that’s exactly what we got.”