Junior infielder Jordan Woolery had her hands all over the Bruins’ Saturday win in the NCAA tournament. 

Woolery notched five RBIs, firing off a home run and a triple.

“Yesterday I got a little bit out of myself, so I hit some pitches outside the zone. So today, I really wanted to focus on honing back in, on hitting my pitch to the pitch I was looking for,” Woolery said. “I feel like Will and Bubba (Will Oldham, Director of Player Development and Data Analytics, and assistant coach Madilyn Nickles-Camarena) do such a great job preparing us before we go up to bat, so I feel like I was ready to do it today.”

No. 9 seed UCLA softball (51-10, 17-5 Big Ten) is headed to the NCAA Los Angeles regional final following a 10-0, sixth-inning, run-rule win over San Diego State (38-18, 16-6 Mountain West) at Easton Stadium on Saturday. 

Sophomore pitcher/outfielder Kaitlyn Terry kept things steady for the Bruins – with five strikeouts, she only faced four batters above the minimum.

“My team, they throw a punch first for me,” Terry said. “Just knowing, just keeping the ball down and spinning the ball for them, and knowing that they would produce runs.”

UCLA started in the batter’s box – as the de facto away side. Bats were swinging early in the first inning, as the first three batters all reached home plate. 

Graduate student outfielder Jessica Clements kicked off a rally with a double tucked just inside third base, and senior utility Savannah Pola followed her around the bases to second on her at-bat. Woolery drove the pair in with a homer tucked just over the left center wall.

San Diego State pitcher Cece Cellura settled down after that, inducing the next three outs in a row. The Aztecs’ pitching staff kept the Bruins off the scoreboard for the next three innings.

“They (the Bruins) have scored in every inning very consistently,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “It’s very deeply distributed, so we know if we don’t score in the first, then we have the ability to score later in the game. Vice versa, if we score in the first, we don’t want to let up. So it’s the game, and today, they came with a purpose.”

UCLA packed two on the bases in the third inning, setting up both junior utility Megan Grant and redshirt sophomore catcher/utility Alexis Ramirez, but the duo both popped their hits up to end the inning. 

In the bottom of the inning, the Aztecs loaded the bases, kicked off by a 10-pitch at-bat for utility/catcher Shannon Cunningham, where Kaitlyn Terry got ahead with two strikes before a series of fouls and balls resulted in a walk. 

A single and an error allowed the three on with two outs, but UCLA shut San Diego State down with a ground out, fielder’s choice at second base. 

The Bruins tacked one more onto the scoreboard in the fifth inning, as a Woolery triple sent Clements home for her second run of the game. The graduate student reached base on a single following an at-bat where she fired off six foul balls, including four in a row. 

Back-to-back doubles from freshmen outfielder Rylee Slimp and infielder/utility Kaniya Bragg earned the Bruins two more runs in the sixth inning, extending their lead to 6-0. 

Following a review, the umpires called obstruction on Aztec catcher Cali Decker at the plate, confirming a tally on the board for senior pinch runner Lauren Hatch, in for Bragg. 

The Bruins secured the run-rule margin on a sacrifice fly from Woolery, before a triple from junior utility Megan Grant – inches away from a home run over the center-field wall – provided extra insurance. 

Terry closed things out in the bottom of the sixth, inducing three outs for the complete-game shutout.

In Sunday’s final, UCLA will face whoever emerges from the loser’s bracket at Easton Stadium – Arizona State, San Diego State or UC Santa Barbara.

“Tomorrow, it’s the same. It’s our ability to play our game,” Inouye-Perez said. “I don’t care who we play from now all the way to the end, because we’re going to play teams that have made it to postseason. Everybody can win at any point.”