Late-inning runs – particularly in a seventh-inning comeback – proved to be the difference for the Bruins on their first two-win day of the season.

“We call them Dirty Dubs – whatever it takes to win,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “I was proud of the team’s fight, to be able to come from behind in game one showed a lot of grit.”

No. 19 UCLA softball (5-4) won both games in a Friday doubleheader at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, beating out future Big Ten foes Nebraska (6-5) and Northwestern (5-3). The Bruins completed a four-run comeback in the seventh inning for the 9-8 walk-off win over the Cornhuskers to open the day, while the second featured a low-scoring affair against the Wildcats, with the sole run coming for the Bruins in the sixth inning.

“We definitely got a chance to see what we’re capable of, and we’re holding on to that,” said graduate student outfielder Jadelyn Allchin. “We really fought for it and we saw a glimpse of who we could be.”

The Huskers got off to an early start with a double to push a runner home. The first game began with the Huskers taking an early lead, but redshirt senior shortstop Maya Brady launched her third home run of the year to tie the score in the first at-bat for the Bruins.

Following Brady, the Bruins plated three more runs in the first, scoring both times they loaded the bases.

The Bruins were shut out over the next five innings, while the Huskers scored in all but the fourth frame.

Outfield heroics propelled the Bruins and junior pitcher Jada Cecil through the fourth inning. On the first pitch of the inning, junior utility Taylor Stephens tracked a foul ball and made a leaping catch over the left field fence for the first out. On the next batter Allchin dove low, sliding across the grass in center field to make the catch.

“That was my first time doing one like that, so it is pretty new for me, but it was awesome. That was definitely one of the best feelings that I’ve ever had making a play on defense,” Stephens said. “It had a lot to do with just doing it for my team and knowing that immediately after my catch, our centerfielder had a catch just like it.”

After Brady ended the fourth frame with the score tied at four, the Huskers added four runs over the next three innings to double the Bruins’ score heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Getting back to their hitting ways from the first inning, Allchin hit a double, and sophomore infielder Ramsey Suarez reached base on an error, collectively sending three runners home.

With the Bruins trailing 8-7 and one out, Stephens knocked an RBI single to right for her first hit of the season, tying the game.

In came the top of the order – Brady – with the runners on base. She singled up the middle, scoring redshirt senior outfielder Janelle Meoño and sealing the walk-off win for the Bruins.

Against Northwestern, however, the competition turned to pitching and fielding.

Sophomore pitcher Taylor Tinsley tossed a shutout, recording a career-high nine strikeouts while holding the Wildcats to three hits.

“She (Tinsley) did a great job of being able to command the strike zone, being able to use her offspeed effectively, and got herself out of some pretty big situations with runners in scoring position,” Inouye-Perez said. “I’m really proud of how she pitched tonight.”

It took until the bottom of the sixth for either team to break through, when sophomore utility Megan Grant followed up a Brady double with an RBI single to right field.

“It’s exactly what Megan Grant is,” Stephens said. “Clutch.”

And in the seventh, the Wildcats went three up, three down as Tinsley struck out the last two of the evening to double up Friday’s wins and place the Bruins back over .500.