This post was updated May 12 at 11:27 p.m.

PALO ALTO – An 11-6 start to the season was uncharacteristic for coach Kelly Inouye-Perez and the Bruins.

While a winning record sufficed, key losses to ranked opponents showed that UCLA was not the same team that lost only seven games the year before. The longtime UCLA coach said then that conference play would have to mark the start of a new season for her “not quite 100%” roster.

The lineup broke out that weekend, tallying 24 runs in three games against Utah.

The Bruins were back.

“I’m proud of this group,” Inouye-Perez said. “I’m proud of our fight. I’m proud of how we’ve trusted this crazy journey of a season.”

Now, two months later, as the top seed in the Pac-12 tournament, UCLA would once again meet its competitors from the Beehive State on Saturday night in the Pac-12 softball tournament final – a rematch from the previous year’s inaugural tournament.

And unlike in last year’s upset, No. 1 seed UCLA softball (37-10, 17-4 Pac-12) put its final mark on the Pac-12, securing its first conference tournament championship in the Pac-12’s last game and defeating No. 6 seed Utah (34-20, 10-13) by a score of 2-1 behind Sharlize Palacios’ go-ahead home run in the sixth.

“These are the moments that you dream of as a kid,” said Palacios, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “Little Sharlize would be so happy to be experiencing this and be here with her parents and with her best friends.”

Palacios’ home run was the outcome of an at-bat that could have ended very differently.

The game was tied at one heading into the bottom of the sixth when the redshirt senior catcher stepped up to the plate.

Mid-count, the All-Pac-12 First Team honoree fouled a pitch off of her knee. 

A trainer met her out at home, and the Bruin faithful – who traveled the distance to Palo Alto – waited patiently to see if the power-hitting backstop would remain in the game.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, it got right into my knee,’” Palacios said.

But she shrugged it off. Game on.

Palacios worked the count full and swung on the next pitch.

A towering drive into left field hit the scoreboard a few feet from where it displayed her picture.

“I was able to slow it down and stay in my routine that I have,” Palacios said. “I was able to lock in and go for the next pitch.”

Now up by one, UCLA only needed three more outs to win the Pac-12 crown.

To begin the seventh, Inouye-Perez called on sophomore pitcher Taylor Tinsley to relieve freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Terry to shut down the Utes’ lineup for the last time in the conference.

Tinsley induced a quick groundout and then struck out the last two batters swinging – the final on a change-up.

“She’s a dirty closer,” Inouye-Perez said. “We needed a change-up in the end, and it’s a Taylor Tinsley special.”

Heading into the fifth inning, things looked good for UCLA’s championship hopes.

Sophomore infielder Jordan Woolery hit a home run in the second, and Terry was dealing through 4.2 scoreless innings.

The back-to-back Pac-12 Freshman of the Year recipients had the Bruins up one but in good shape to take the title with seven outs to go.

That was until Utah’s pinch hitter Karlie Davison stepped up to the plate with no one on base.

After taking the first two pitches for balls, Davison swung. Tie game.

Terry kept pitching. She induced a groundout in the next at-bat, sending her offense back up to the plate.

Woolery said the freshman pitcher’s performance allowed the team to stay competitive as it looked to retake the lead.

“I see how hard she works,” Woolery said. “It’s her first time around the block, so it’s really cool to have her back.”

The efforts of Terry and Woolery earned them All-Pac-12 Tournament team honors alongside graduate student outfielder Jadelyn Allchin.

Inouye-Perez said seeing her team elevate to secure the title and represent the Pac-12 as its final champion – both in the regular season and in the tournament – made her emotional as she looked back on the conference’s storied history.

“I’ve been proud to be a part of the Pac-12 for decades and to be able to play in the Pac-12,” Inouye-Perez said. “To be able to close it out like this – it’s just the cherry on top.”