Most teams start packing up when they are down four runs to start the bottom of the seventh.

But the Bruins had their bats out and ready.

With redshirt junior catcher Alexis Ramirez’s home run to start the inning, No. 11 UCLA softball (13-3) climbed its way back to defeat No. 22 South Carolina (9-5) in walk-off fashion in its fifth game at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California, on Saturday. UCLA bested Fresno State (4-7) 11-0 on the same day and concluded the tournament Sunday with a 15-7 triumph over No. 13 Texas A&M (10-6).

Redshirt freshman shortstop Aleena Garcia was hitless entering her seventh inning at-bat against the Gamecocks. Still, with just one swing of her club, sophomore infielder Kaniya Bragg and freshman utility Jazmine Leyva strided to home plate for the win.

The team stormed the field, embracing one another, with Garcia in the middle of it all.

But that was not the Bruins’ starting shortstop’s only highlight, as this month marks a year since Garcia’s last at-bat of her true freshman season, when an ACL injury ended it.

“I was just grateful to be able to go out there and play the game that I love to play because I never knew what it felt like to have sports and softball be ripped away from me,” Garcia said. “Just having another day to go out there and just be grateful to play with my teammates, it was very emotional in the morning, but then I was super happy about the results that happened.”

Senior pitcher Taylor Tinsley played the entirety of the game versus the Gamecocks, looking flawless until sixth-inning blunders. Tinsley allowed just three hits across seven innings, void of any earned runs.

But she also flashed dominance outside of the South Carolina outing, earning four wins across the showcase.

With six games across four days, UCLA left the desert with a perfect record over the weekend.

Redshirt junior pitcher Sydney Somerndike started and finished in the circle for the Bruins, allowing just one hit in her shutout, mercy-rule victory against Fresno State.

Offensively, four Bruins went deep, including seniors utility Megan Grant and infielder Jordan Woolery. Infielders freshman Bri Alejandre and redshirt junior Ramsey Suarez also went yard.

The team’s strikeouts and walk counts at the plate were equal, ending the contest with two of each.

After what seemed to be a tough weekend at the Clearwater Invitational last week, when the Bruins went 2-3, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said she was proud of her team’s dominant performance.

“I could not be more proud, could not be more impressed, just the ability to face some great opponents after coming back from a road trip,” Inouye-Perez said. “I’m just excited to be able to see how this team is building confidence in playing well together. There’s a true culture on this team that they’re going to compete, and we’re taking pride in that.”

After the buzz and excitement of mercy-rule and walk-off wins Saturday, the team kept its foot on the gas.

Against Texas A&M, UCLA fell into a quick 5-0 deficit in the second inning after a scoreless first frame.

But the Bruins immediately responded with six runs of their own, largely thanks to the bats of sophomore utility Mia Phillips and Woolery, who hit a double and a home run, respectively.

Tinsley was pulled before the first inning concluded, leaving freshman pitcher Natalie Cable to face the top-25 ranked team. Cable earned the win in the mercy-rule finish, tallying five hits and four runs allowed.

And UCLA scored eight more runs in the third to spearhead its five-inning 15-7 win.

The team looks to the Judi Garman Classic next weekend, which marks its last non-conference tournament.

And the Bruins will likely rely on Tinsley to keep her command and lead them to similar outcomes moving forward.

“I mean, going into next weekend, it’s a new weekend,” Tinsley said. “This weekend, as of now, it’s as old as dirt. Just staying true to who we are and just keep on refining our tools and sharpening our weapons and just getting ready to get after it.”