The Bruins have rarely failed to put the ball in play this season.

The squad averages 2.82 strikeouts per game – its lowest since 2002.

But with Oregon’s Lyndsey Grein in the circle, the status quo changed. And it did so in drastic fashion.

The right-hander struck out six of nine batters in the first time through Friday’s lineup, leading No. 6 Oregon softball (41-5, 14-2 Big Ten) to outlast No. 5 UCLA (41-7, 13-3) twice in a three-game series at Jane Sanders Stadium – breaking the Bruins’ 12-game winning streak.

The Bruins fell 3-1 in the opening matchup, scoring their sole run in the seventh inning and striking out 10 times. They were run-ruled 9-0 in the series finale Sunday – the team’s worst loss since a 16-run defeat to then-No. 5 Texas in February last year.

“I wanted to be able to have this opportunity for the girls to be able to get challenged, and tonight was a great challenge,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez after Friday’s bout. “Oregon executed. We didn’t. We learned a valuable lesson.”

Grein, who transferred from Virginia Tech, held the Bruins scoreless through the first five innings. Then, Oregon’s Elise Sokolsky came out of the bullpen to deal UCLA two more strikeouts.

But when graduate student outfielder Jessica Clements stepped up for her final at-bat of the night Friday, a solo homer to right field gave UCLA its only run of the night in the bottom of the seventh inning.

In the series finale Sunday, Grein – whose 1.25 ERA ranks eighth in the nation – returned with even more vengeance, tossing five shutout innings while giving up just three hits and two walks. Grein limited junior utility Megan Grant, junior infielder Jordan Woolery and senior utility Savannah Pola to just one combined hit in the Bruins’ worst loss in more than 14 months.

“She (Grein) was just making good pitches, hitting corners, working vertically up and down,” said redshirt sophomore catcher/utility Alexis Ramirez. “But I think we have enough capability in us as an offense to make adjustments, and I believe we can. But obviously give credit where credit’s due. She was making good pitches.”

While the Bruin offense was seemingly nonexistent at the bookends of the series – combining for just one run Friday and Sunday – the Bruins’ usually staunch defense didn’t fare well either.

Sophomore pitcher/outfielder Kaitlyn Terry yielded three earned runs in just two innings of play Sunday, while freshman pitcher/utility Addisen Fisher conceded three hits and four earned runs in a single inning after relieving Terry.

And though she averages 10.5 strikeouts per seven innings this season, junior pitcher Taylor Tinsley struck out just four batters Friday evening. While she struggled to get punchouts, the 2024 All-Pac-12 First Team selection only allowed four hits and three runs in her eighth complete game of the season.

“Taylor pitched well. To have three hits and three runs is not telling the whole story of how well she pitched beyond that,” Inouye-Perez said. “But if you want to be the last team standing, we got to be better at that.”

As the Ducks made contact with Tinsley’s pitches, the rest of the Bruins’ defense stepped up behind her. UCLA kept Oregon off the bases and the scoreboard until first baseman Rylee McCoy launched a solo homer to center field in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Ducks their first run and first hit of the series opener.

“It really comes down to having each other’s back. So even though that home run was hit early on, it came down to, ‘OK so what? We still have your back,’” Clements said. “It really falls back on we know how to play. We all trust each other to make plays.”

Despite losing the series, the Bruins trounced the Ducks 8-0 Saturday night – forcing Oregon’s first run-rule loss of the season. Fisher conceded just three hits and one walk, leading UCLA to its first shutout complete game against a top-10 opponent since Tinsley achieved the same feat exactly one year prior against then-No. 5 Stanford.

Woolery and freshman shortstop Kaniya Bragg led the Bruins offensively, recording four and three RBIs, respectively. Bragg hit a three-run homer – the seventh home run of her career – in the top of the sixth inning to push UCLA to the run-rule victory.

But Oregon answered in kind the following day, storming back with a 9-0 triumph to clinch the series.

“We had our opportunities, and we didn’t capitalize on them,” Clements said. “But this is our learning opportunity. This is how we learn. This is how we get better.”