Aaliyah Jordan’s two-run home run for UCLA softball secures win against Stanford

Aaliyah Jordan is back.

The graduate student outfielder made her formal return last weekend, but on Saturday night, she made a series-clinching statement.

No. 3 UCLA softball (31-4, 8-3 Pac-12) narrowly defeated No. 6 Stanford (28-5, 5-3) by a score of 2-1 in the second of the teams’ three-game weekend matchup at Easton Stadium. The victory secured the fourth consecutive conference series win in as many tries for the Bruins, and put them a full game ahead of No. 8 Washington for second place behind No. 24 Utah in the Pac-12 standings.

After being held scoreless by UCLA pitching for the first eight combined innings of the series, Stanford’s offense at last broke through in the second inning Saturday to draw first blood. Infielder Emily Young ripped a solo home run over the scoreboard in right field, marking her first dinger of the campaign.

Jordan promptly responded with a blast of her own.

After working a full count against pitcher Regan Krause, Jordan went deep to left center to bring home redshirt junior catcher Sharlize Palacios and put the Bruins up for good. It was the first time Jordan had gone yard since Feb. 19, 2022 – the last time she took the field for the blue and gold before her season-ending ACL injury.

“I’ve seen Aaliyah go through a lot, and I think that moment is Aaliyah Jordan 101,” said redshirt senior pitcher Megan Faraimo. “Resilient, determined and having fun with it. Playing her game, she doesn’t let time or an injury like this or anything take her away from who she’s going to be.”

Tasked with managing the slim lead, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez kept her pitchers on a short leash. Graduate student Lauren Shaw took the circle for sixth-year Brooke Yanez after the latter pitched two innings of one-hit, one-run ball.

The opportunity to do damage would present itself once again to Jordan, as the Bruins strung together a two-out rally in the third inning that left the bases juiced for the outfielder. Knowing very well what had transpired earlier that evening, a buzz grew among the Bruin faithful as Jordan fought through her at-bat.

The pieces were in place for her to become a game-breaker, but Jordan could only muster a grounder to the pitcher, drawing a routine putout at first.

Despite the missed RBI opportunity, Jordan commended her teammates for creating such opportunities time and time again.

“They do a really good job of getting them on, getting them over and getting those little gap shots to get them in,” Jordan said. “So the fact that they can set that up for me and get the job done every time, it’s pretty cool.”

Having retired the side in her first inning of work, Shaw surrendered a single to outfielder Kaitlyn Lim to open the fourth before earning a lineout from Young. Inouye-Perez, again taking no chances after Lim stole second, called on the bullpen for her second and final pitching change.

Out stepped Faraimo, who had turned in a complete-game shutout the night before.

Her performance over the next 3.2 innings didn’t have the strikeout shine that it did Friday, but the efficiency was all the same. Faraimo forced weak contact after weak contact, allowing just one hit and walking none while punching out a pair.

The Bruins’ star in the circle has pitched 10.2 consecutive run-free innings while tossing just shy of 200 total pitches since Friday night.

Faraimo first credited the other half of her battery for keeping her on top of her game.

“Again, I think it’s Shar (Sharlize Palacios), she’s doing such a good job back there and it’s me and her working between innings on the pitches and the plan,” Faraimo said. “And then also, preparation and opportunity, that’s what we all believe in.”

The blue and gold again put Krause on ice with another two-out rally in the fifth, bringing Jordan to the plate with freshman utility Megan Grant on second and Palacios on first. Jordan drew the same contact that she had in the third, but a different outcome ensued, as Krause bobbled the grounder and allowed Jordan to reach, loading the bases for junior outfielder Lauryn Carter – Friday night’s offensive hero.

Carter struck out and stranded three runners for the second time on the night, but it wouldn’t matter. Faraimo shut the door by retiring the last seven consecutive Cardinal batters of the contest, earning the win and improving her record to 17-2 in 2023.

Faraimo said a series sweep – which has eluded the Bruins thus far into Pac-12 play – is well within their sights.

“Tomorrow (Sunday) we believe it’s guts day, so we’re going to make some gutsy calls and just kind of still be on attack mode,” Faraimo said.