This post was updated May 10 at 12:28 a.m. 

PALO ALTO – Thursday marked the beginning of a heat wave.

With temperatures inching closer to summer-like weather in the Bay Area, the shade-deprived Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium served as the battleground for the Bruins’ first 2024 Pac-12 softball tournament contest of the season.

Enter the Sun Devils, no strangers to the heat coming from the desert. In fact, they bask in it.

After their Wednesday victory to advance to play UCLA, Arizona State pitcher Deborah Jones asked the rest of the conference in a post-game interview: “Why not us?”

However, despite the Sun Devils’ aptly named mascot and Jones’ aspirations, the Bruins’ offense and freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Terry brought the heat to begin its postseason run.

“I love the heat. I’m from Arizona,” Terry said. “This is what I live in.”

Behind Terry’s complete game shutout and two quick runs on two hits off of Jones in the bottom half of the first frame, No. 1 seed UCLA softball (35-10, Pac-12 17-4) would not surrender its lead, extinguishing the postseason hopes of No. 9 Arizona State (20-30, 3-21) with a 6-0 win, securing its sixth straight addition to the win column and advancing to the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament.

Terry, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, began the game with 2.2 hitless innings – just four days after starting and winning her third straight game against the Sun Devils in Tempe.

“I’m calling the game to be able to make her look a little different every single time,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “She just has good pitches. … It’s a new season at the Pac-12s.”

On the offensive side of the ball, the Bruins got on the board quickly after redshirt senior shortstop Maya Brady – fresh off being named Pac-12 Player of the Year for the second straight season – drew a walk.

After a single from graduate student outfielder Jadelyn Allchin put Brady into scoring position, a single from redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios gave UCLA the lead. Three pitches later, the Bruins would score another run off of a fielder’s choice induced by sophomore utility Megan Grant.

The next three innings went scoreless, with the offense for both teams mustering up one hit each.

But in the bottom of the fifth, a walk, a single down the third base line and a bunt single loaded the bases for the top of the lineup with no outs.

Heading into the two final frames, the longtime provider of clutch moments for the Bruins delivered. A fielder’s choice from Brady and a single from Allchin would provide UCLA with an extra two insurance runs.

But the lineup was not done there.

Grant – last year’s postseason spark – stepped up to the plate with two outs and two on and hit a double, scoring two.

Deuces wild. The Bruins were now up 6-0, enough for Terry to shut down the Sun Devil lineup for six more outs.

“Something about us and our team – we’re still learning as we’re going into the postseason,” Grant said. “We’re going to try and just score either way, whether it’s off of those fielder’s choices or whatever comes.”

Over the course of the evening, Terry struck out four and only faced two batters over the minimum. The victory marked her second complete game seven inning shutout as a Bruin after she defeated Washington on March 24.

UCLA will play No. 5 seed Arizona on Friday at 7:30 p.m. for a spot in the Pac-12 championship game, where the weather forecast only calls for more heat.

“The weather’s great,” Inouye-Perez said. “We got a full crowd, got a lot of energy, we’re playing for a purpose. It’s always a great day to play softball. It’s a great day to be a Bruin.”