A fresh bat was the answer the Bruins needed.

With the game tied at two in the sixth inning, redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios stepped up to the batter’s box as a pinch hitter.

She delivered the go-ahead home run.

Behind Palacios’ team-high-tying 11th home run of the season, No. 6 UCLA softball (28-9, 12-3 Pac-12) solidified a 5-2 victory over Long Beach State (19-26, Big West 14-4) on Tuesday night, extending its current win streak to six games.

“I think it changed the whole momentum of the game, and got our team going and a good energy and a good flow,” said junior utility Savannah Pola. “And then after that, we just kept flowing and getting base hits too.”

Freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Terry received the start in the circle and worked herself into a few jams early on, hitting two batters and walking two batters before the fourth inning.

After giving up an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, Terry struck out the next two batters, preventing any further damage and stranding a runner on base.

Associate head coach Kirk Walker said Terry handled the adversity she faced well.

“She responded very well. She’s a true competitor, and she is never at a loss of intensity in terms of her expectations for her performance,” Walker said. “It was nice for her to throw a complete game and get all the way through because I think she needed that.”

Veteran experience spearheaded the Bruins’ offense, relieving some pressure off of Terry and allowing her to settle in.

To kickstart the scoring for the Bruins, Pola singled early in the second inning to drive in the first run of the night for what would be a short-lived 1-0 lead. The Beach drove in a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame, tying the score at one apiece.

In the top of the third inning, the Bruins regained the lead after redshirt senior shortstop Maya Brady slung a solo shot to right field. Brady finished the contest with a pair of RBIs, bringing her to a team-leading 41.

“Maya has been exceptional for us in so many areas,” Walker said. “Defensively, offensively, as a team leader. … She’s really led in so many different areas and she brings such great competitive spirit.”

As it did earlier in the game, Long Beach retaliated once again with the game-tying double off the bat of infielder Sinclair Lawhorn.

And then Palacios stepped up, delivering a towering two-run moonshot to left field to give the Bruins a 4-2 lead.

Despite not starting Tuesday, Palacios said she was focused throughout the game in case her team needed her to hit.

“I was just trying to stay mentally prepared to be ready to hit,” Palacios said. “My teammates did a really good job of prepping me. When coach (Inouye-Perez) told me I was going to go, they were telling me what to look for.”

The final blow came from Brady’s second RBI of the night, putting the game further out of reach for the Beach.