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Megan Faraimo shines in UCLA softball’s Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic wins

Redshirt junior catcher Sharlize Palacios stands in the batter’s box. Palacios hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning Friday night to propel No. 1 UCLA softball to a win over Iowa. (Myka Fromm/Daily Bruin)

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No. 3 Florida0
No. 1 UCLA10
No. 18 Kentucky3
No. 1 UCLA6
Iowa1
No. 1 UCLA2

By Sam Lieberman

Feb. 25, 2023 12:53 p.m.

With three victories in two days, the newly crowned No. 1 team in the country stretched its winning streak to 15 to start the season.

On Thursday, No. 1 UCLA softball (15-0) opened up the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic by defeating No. 3 Florida (11-1) by a score of 10-0. On Friday, the Bruins swept back-to-back contests against No. 18 Kentucky (9-2-1) and Iowa (7-4) with 6-3 and 2-1 victories, respectively.

Thursday’s matchup against Florida was highlighted by redshirt senior pitcher/first baseman Megan Faraimo tossing her seventh career no-hitter and her first against a ranked opponent.

“We had obviously watched film, done our scouting, and I really respect their (Florida’s) bats,” Faraimo said. “I knew I was going to have to bring them my A game.”

In five innings, Faraimo fanned nine Gators while only giving up one baserunner – which came via a lead-off walk to start the second inning.

Faraimo’s performance marked the first time in 20 years the Bruins had no-hit a top-three opponent, the last being Keira Goerl’s shutdown of then-No. 2 Stanford on Mar. 28, 2003.

The game also marked the Bruins’ third no-hitter this season – the second from Faraimo and the first caught by redshirt junior catcher/first baseman Alyssa Garcia.

“It was really cool to have Lyss back there. We just focused on my strengths,” Faraimo said. “She was really solid back there.”

On the other side of the ball, UCLA’s offense harassed Florida’s pitching. The blue and gold put up two runs in the first inning, doubled that in the second and notched six in the fourth before the mercy rule was put into effect.

In the first leg of Friday’s dual action, UCLA’s bats picked up right where they left off against Kentucky.

The Bruins posted three two-run rallies in the first, second and fourth innings, providing sixth-year pitcher Brooke Yanez a comfortable cushion to work with.

Yanez, whose only earned run of the game was a solo home run in the second inning, pitched five innings and notched nine strikeouts.

Kentucky brought the tying run to the plate in the fifth and seventh innings.

Yanez escaped the fifth after the third hitter in the Wildcats’ lineup, Erin Coffel, smacked a potential game-tying home run that fell just short and was caught at the fence.

Faraimo came in to close the contest, and after allowing singles to the eighth and ninth batters in the top of the seventh, would retire the following three Wildcats to end the game.

UCLA’s wins over Florida and Kentucky marked its fifth and sixth victories over ranked opponents this season.

Just over 30 minutes later, UCLA suited up again to face Iowa.

The game turned out to be a pitcher’s duel between two freshmen, as Taylor Tinsley took the circle for UCLA and Jalen Adams took the circle for Iowa.

The Hawkeyes struck first after Nia Carter led off the third inning with a triple and scored on a ground ball to shortstop.

UCLA equalized in the bottom of the fifth. Redshirt junior outfielder Janelle Meoño reached on an error and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman utility Megan Grant.

Coming into the night, Adams had given up no earned runs through 19.1 innings pitched. That streak ended at 24.1 after redshirt junior catcher Sharlize Palacios blasted a solo home run into left-center field to lead off the sixth.

Palacios’ blast was her fourth of the season and proved to be the difference maker in the Bruins’ comeback victory.

Faraimo came on again to close out the final two innings for the second time Friday. With four strikeouts against the Wildcats and another six versus the Hawkeyes, Faraimo brought her total at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic to 19 through nine innings of work.

UCLA will play three more times this weekend with consecutive matchups against No. 19 Northwestern and Texas A&M on Saturday, and a 2022 Women’s College World Series semifinal rematch against No. 2 Oklahoma on Sunday.

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Sam Lieberman
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