This post was updated March 12 at 11:54 p.m.

The Bruins took care of business from the jump Tuesday night.

In a midweek showdown between No. 5 UCLA softball (24-4) and San Diego (11-16), UCLA sent eight runs home in the first inning, enough for its eventual 9-0 run-rule victory.

“Tonight was an absolutely perfect night,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “Having the players dial in from the start, be able to play great softball, and then allow us to get all so many different people into the game that train just as hard and opportunities like this become a reality, so that everybody got to play.”

After sophomore pitcher/outfielder Kaitlyn Terry retired three out of four batters in the top of the first, the Bruins stepped up to the plate.

UCLA recorded six of its eight hits in the bottom half of the inning Tuesday. With three walks, a total of nine Bruins reached base in the frame.

“We were very aggressively smart and it worked out for us,” said senior utility Savannah Pola, who ripped two doubles in the first. “We had good at bats throughout the whole game.”

The rest of the game moved quickly thereafter.

The second and fourth innings saw three batters up and three batters down for both teams.

Pola’s third hit of the night tacked on one more run for the Bruins, earning the senior her fourth RBI of the affair.

“It brings a lot of confidence. It gives the pitchers a little bit more to work to try new pitches, do different things,” said junior infielder Jordan Woolery. “It’s good for them to help expand their game, but also us offensively and get more people in the lineup too.”

Fifteen players appeared in the ballgame for the Bruins – some in different positions than usual.

Woolery said freshman Kaniya Bragg – who played both shortstop and third base – impressed her with that defensive versatility.

Senior duo utility Kate Blunt and catcher Jayla Castro joined the lineup Tuesday. Castro recorded two runs and one RBI, scoring the second run on a long, wide and dramatic slide into home plate.

“Jayla, she’s the definition of a selfless Bruin, so to see her out there, get an RBI tonight too, and get some action on the bases and behind the plate,” Woolery said. “It meant a lot to us as a team.”

Seven of the Bruins’ nine runs came with two outs.

“What’s most impressive is the work we do with two strikes and two outs, and that is a defining character of a team,” Inouye-Perez said. “For whatever reason, when there’s no outs and a runner gets on, there’s this idea of what should happen – move them over and then try to find a way to score. But the attention to detail with the team is, it doesn’t matter how many outs, it doesn’t matter how many strikes.”

The Bruins garnered the winter quarter week 10 win in 100 minutes, sending fans home with plenty of time to study for finals.

Woolery said one team member came directly to the game from a test, missing part of warmups.

“It was really good and exciting that we were able to lock on and have a lot of energy, even though it’s a Tuesday night at 7 p.m.,” Pola said. “So I’m really proud of us for keeping the energy up and coming out with a punch.”