In professional wrestling, hot tags come when one member of a tag team falls behind and needs to bring in their well-rested teammate.

Oftentimes, it spells the end of the game – the strength of a reinforcement pushes the tag team toward victory while bringing the crowd together behind a comeback effort.

When sophomore pitcher Taylor Tinsley fell behind in the second after conceding three runs in the first, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez needed a hot tag, bringing in Kaitlyn Terry.

The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year – fresh off of a shutout in her first NCAA tournament start – entered the game.

“She’s young, she’s fiery, but she settled in,” Inouye-Perez said.

In her five full innings of work, the hurler conceded just two earned runs, bringing the Easton Stadium faithful back to life as the lineup began to return the favor in the batter’s box.

And in the seventh, the Bruins executed the final blow.

Behind Terry’s performance and junior utility Savannah Pola’s walk-off single, No. 6 seed UCLA softball (39-10, 17-4 Pac-12) held Virginia Tech (40-13-1, 18-6 ACC) down for the count by a score of 7-6 to advance to the NCAA Los Angeles regional final.

Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Bruins were down by one after the Hokies took the lead in the top half of the inning on a bloop single with the bases loaded.

To start the inning, sophomore utility Megan Grant walked, putting the tying run on.

Next, sophomore infielder Jordan Woolery drove a ball into the right-center wall – inches away from a walk-off home run – tripling the runner in. Tie game.

In the next at-bat – for the third time this month – the Bruins completed their comeback by four or more runs, as Pola slapped a ball into left-field, bringing the fans in Easton Stadium to their feet.

“In that moment, my mind, it was like no fear of failure,” Pola said. “No matter what, my teammates were going to have my back.”

Terry’s final line for the afternoon included 5.2 innings, two earned runs and three strikeouts – less than 24 hours after throwing five innings Friday night.

The Arizona local entered after Tinsley struggled in the first and second innings.

A first inning Cori McMillian three-run home run put Virginia Tech up early. While Tinsley got out of the inning behind two strikeouts, the Bruin lineup could not execute, sending the second-year pitcher back out to the circle.

Tinsley picked up her third punchout of the day to start the second, but it would be the last out she recorded. A walk and an error brought in Terry. One of those runners came in to score, bringing the Hokie lead to four.

The Bruin lineup went quiet in the second, but following a 1-2-3 inning from Terry in the third, the offense awoke.

With the eight and nine hitters up, the late-lineup “Bruin Magic” arrived. Senior utility Thessa Malau’ulu and redshirt senior Janelle Meoño each tallied singles, sending Pac-12 Player of the Year Maya Brady up to the plate.

“This team has the ability to wipe things clean, be able to start fresh, make adjustments and keep on throwing punches,” Inouye-Perez said.

The redshirt senior shortstop promptly hit a single herself, loading the bases with nobody out for the third time this weekend.

Yet, things looked bleak. In the next five pitches, two outs appeared on the scoreboard, giving Grant the opportunity to salvage the inning.

A choppy grounder to second spelled the end of the frame, but a mishandling of the play by the Hokies’ infielder meant Grant had an infield single. On the basepaths, crafty running from Brady brought home two runs, halving the Virginia Tech lead.

UCLA scored more in the fourth. Singles from Malau’ulu and pinch-hitter sophomore infielder Ramsey Suarez each scored a run to tie the game, sending Brady back up with a chance to take the lead.

Brady’s sacrifice-fly did just that.

Now up 5-4, Terry looked to repeat her Friday shutout performance. However, with one out and nobody on in the next inning, the Hokies’ Addy Greene tied the game with a swing of the bat.

In the seventh, Virginia Tech tacked on one more, giving it the lead. But as Inouye-Perez and UCLA know well – a comeback is always still possible.

Woolery said scoring to assist the Bruin pitching staff is a crucial goal of the lineup.

“It’s really important that we do give them support, and they give us so much support, especially through the beginning of the season to now,” Woolery said. “We’ve all come a long way.”

Two batters later, Woolery’s triple and Pola’s walk-off gave the Bruins the lead, and an opportunity Sunday afternoon to advance to the NCAA super regional.

UCLA will play the winner of Virginia Tech and Grand Canyon/San Diego State on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the regional final. If the Bruins lose, they will play again at 5:30 p.m. in an elimination game.