This post was updated June 1 at 10:50 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY – One out away from the end of the Bruins’ season, the story was written for NFCA First Team All-American juniors third baseman Jordan Woolery and first baseman Megan Grant – nicknamed “the Bruin Bombers” – to save UCLA’s run toward a national title.

And they did just that.

“Knowing that it wasn’t all on me to get the job done with two outs – I feel like if you have Megan behind you, it’s easy to feel a lot less pressure,” Woolery said.

Woolery singled to left center. And like the storybook ending to a near elimination from the Women’s College World Series, Grant blasted the first pitch she saw out of Devon Park to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning.

But as the Bruins rushed to home plate to celebrate their saved season, Grant forgot the most important step in softball – touching home plate.

“After the swing, I did black out,” Grant said. “After the fact, I trusted God with everything. The tensions were high and everything, and that’s where I just laid my pressure on.”

And even after instant replay clearly showed Grant missing home plate, the umpires said, “The runner did miss home plate and was assisted. However, that play was not reviewable, according to Appendix G.”

However, as every basketball player knows – ball doesn’t lie.

After battling through two extra innings of tightly contested gameplay, No. 9 seed UCLA softball (55-13, 17-5 Big Ten) lost 5-4 – courtesy of a walk-off single – to No. 7 seed Tennessee (47-16, 15-9 SEC) on Sunday in game 3 of the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. With the loss, the Bruins’ 2025 campaign is over, while the Lady Vols will advance to the next round to play No. 6 seed Texas.

Despite the loss, the Bruins did not go down without a fight. 

Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens – the 2025 SEC Pitcher of the Year – allowed just eight home runs this season and never more than one in a single inning.

But when she faced off against the nation’s No. 8-ranked home run squad, that narrative changed. And it was not Woolery or Grant who tainted Pickens’ record.  

Instead, redshirt sophomore catcher/utility Alexis Ramirez – who hit the two-run go-ahead homer against Oregon in game 1 of the WCWS – and freshman catcher/designated player Sofia Mujica knocked home runs over the wall in the top of the second inning to tie the game, highlighting the depth of UCLA’s lineup top to bottom.  

And when NFCA Third Team All-American and junior pitcher Taylor Tinsley relieved sophomore pitcher Kaitlyn Terry – who struck out seven batters through 3.1 innings – in the bottom of the sixth, the Bruins showcased the depth of their pitching staff.

“KT (Terry) actually competed, and she might have missed on a pitch, but she competed. And I love how she came out,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “The fact that Taylor came in and had her back is a big part of what you saw from those two last year as well. So the future is exciting, because they’re both very young.”

While Tinsley did not throw a single strike, the defense behind her kept the Bruins alive for two extra innings.

A double play from Woolery to senior second baseman Savannah Pola in the bottom of the seventh, crucial defensive plays from freshmen outfielder Rylee Slimp and shortstop Kaniya Bragg in the bottom of the eighth, and 2025 SEC First Team outfielder Taylor Pannell missing a walk-off home run by a few inches in the ninth gave UCLA every last inch of hope.

“It lights a fire in your ability to be able to want to come back and have a different outcome,” Inouye-Perez said. “The fact that they came together and they found a way to get out of that – those momentum shifts and those opportunities are things of why you want to come and play on this stage.”

But even when the Bruins loaded the bases with Ramirez up to bat in the top of the ninth, the time to capitalize never came, as Ramirez grounded out to mark UCLA’s last at-bat of the season.

The Bruins’ defeat didn’t come without opportunities to win, though.

Earlier in the game, when Grant – who holds the sixth-most RBIs in the NCAA this season – stepped up to the plate with two runners in scoring position in the top of the first, UCLA had a chance to take an early lead. 

But rather than launching the ball over the fence like she had done 25 times already this season, the USA Softball Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist sent the ball flying in the air, landing in infielder Laura Mealer’s glove. 

Mealer then turned a double play to third base, where graduate student center fielder Jessica Clements was caught as the final out of the first inning.

Then the Bruins had a second shot in the top of the fifth.

With bases loaded and Ramirez stepping up to the plate for potentially her third home run of the WCWS, Pickens struck out Ramirez, keeping the game tied 2-2 and foreshadowing the disappointing end to UCLA’s last at-bats in the ninth.

“Unfortunately, sometimes you come through. Sometimes you don’t. That doesn’t define you in that moment,” Inouye-Perez said. “But this team came back, and they fought again today against another great opponent. And I told them, ‘You’re going to be remembered for your fight.’”