This post was updated May 18 at 11:06 p.m.

Alexis Ramirez stepped up to her first at-bat Sunday evening to the reverberating chants of, “We love three bases,” courtesy of the Bruin faithful.

With two outs, a double from the redshirt sophomore catcher/utility cleared the bases – assisted by a throwing error from the Gauchos.

And after an ensuing single via freshman infielder/utility Kaniya Bragg brought Ramirez home, the designated visitors had already solidified a 4-0 lead before the Gauchos even had a chance to respond.

Boasting 17 RBIs with two outs across its three-game regional, No. 9 seed UCLA softball (52-10, 17-5 Big Ten) concluded its first round with a 12-1 fifth-inning, run-rule victory over UC Santa Barbara (36-26, 17-10 Big West) on Sunday at Easton Stadium. The win moved UCLA to the NCAA super regional, where it will face No. 8 seed South Carolina.

By the Bruins’ final second-inning out, Ramirez had already unlocked the mercy rule potential, scoring the team’s eighth run off the Gauchos’ third pitcher of the contest. With a perfect record at the plate, she tacked five RBIs onto her season total of 25, while matching her highest single-game hit total with three.   

“We keep our relentlessness through the whole game – we always talk about the word ‘indomitable,’” said junior utility Megan Grant. “We tried to showcase that today.”

Five batters notched 11 RBIs in contribution to the weekend’s positive-29 run differential – the best regional figure since 2005.

And after a 1-2-3 third inning from both teams, two of the game’s total three solo home runs broke the silence once again to bolster the final score.

“To be able to regroup and be able to see what they did was exciting for what’s to come,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “We want to score early. We want to continue to score throughout the ball game. And they did that today – and they didn’t let up.”

Junior power hitters infielder Jordan Woolery and Grant – the nation’s leaders in combined RBIs – slammed back-to-back solo shots in the top of the fourth inning to bump the scoreboard to double digits and add a chapter to UCLA’s history books. 

With the tandem’s 161st combined RBI, the juniors officially cemented their reign as the program’s all-time leaders in combined RBIs in a single season. 

“If Meg wasn’t awesome, I couldn’t be awesome, so I’m grateful to have her by my side,” Woolery said.

Grant and Woolery were joined in their efforts by graduate student outfielder Jessica Clements, who scored Sunday’s final run of the night with a solo long ball in the fifth. 

Through it all, UCSB was unable to find an opening for a comeback as junior pitcher Taylor Tinsley’s four-inning effort silenced the Gauchos early – closing out the first two innings with strikeouts, contributing to her game-total 45 strikes.

And before the Bruins bid farewell to their home stadium, each senior on the team took a swing at the plate, with senior pitcher Jada Cecil relieving Tinsley to close out the win.

“We always said that it’s the last game, and we want to make it the best one – so everything we do from this point on is just for them, for the seniors,” Grant said.

UCLA will advance to the super regional round, which will begin May 22, for its chance to compete in the Women’s College World Series.

“We had a saying: ‘Our best is yet to come,’” Inouye-Perez said.