Eclipsing a record is normally accomplished with a minuscule difference.

But senior utility Megan Grant’s 20th home run across just 26 games bashed UCLA’s previous record set across 43.

And in Grant’s record-setting weekend, No. 7 UCLA softball (25-3, 6-0 Big Ten) swept Michigan State (13-13, 0-3) in a three-game series at Easton Stadium that started Friday and ended Sunday. The Bruins won 10-0 in the opener, 18-10 in game two and 10-2 in the series finale.

In Friday’s matchup, the Bruins wasted no time getting on the scoreboard.

Freshman infielder Bri Alejandre hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the first, driving in the first run of the game. The subsequent Bruin batters followed the freshman’s lead, helping UCLA take a 4-0 lead.

“When you’re in a series with a team, you want to come out, and you want to be a little more aggressive (and) go for it,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “Figure out what it is that you’re really trying to do. Stick to a plan and go for it instead of waiting to see how the game plays out.”

Then the home run party started.

Grant connected to send one past the right field wall in the second inning, marking her record-breaking home run. Grant is hitting at a .541 clip, the highest batting average on the Bruins’ and fifth-highest mark in the country.

“I’s a lot of rinse and repeat from last year, and I’m really getting to feel all my cues and everything, practicing consistency all throughout in practice and then having it come out to the game,” Grant said.

Redshirt junior utility Ramsey Suarez hit her sixth home run of the season in the third, putting the Bruins up 7-0. Senior infielder Jordan Woolery and sophomore infielder Kaniya Bragg continued their hot streaks as well, notching a home run each to help the Bruins walk away with a 10-0 run-rule victory.

Senior pitcher Taylor Tinsley recorded her second shutout game in as many weeks, allowing just three hits and recording three strikeouts in game one.

The Bruins secured the series victory Saturday with an 18-10 five-inning run-rule victory, launching four home runs.

UCLA jumped out to an early 11-0 lead after just the first two innings before Michigan State countered.

The Spartans scored four runs off freshman pitcher Natalie Cable in the top of the third before sophomore pitcher Brynne Nally took over the circle, where she finished with her second Bruin victory. Michigan State scored two more runs before the UCLA lineup returned to the plate, bringing the score to 11-6.

But a five-run Bruin bottom of the third – punctuated by three home runs – extended the lead once more.

Alejandre sent her ninth home run of the season past the right field wall, batting in three runs. Redshirt freshman infielder Aleena Garcia sent one over the left field fence, forcing a pitching change before sophomore catcher Sofia Mujica hit another one deep to help mount a 16-6 lead.

Woolery blasted her second home run of the weekend in the fourth after the Spartans plated three runners in the top half of the inning. And Michigan State countered with a final run in the top of the fifth, but UCLA still walked out with the 18-10 run-rule victory and the series win.

“They (Tinsley, Grant and Woolery) are definitely great role models, great people, great friends, and they really always set the tone for us and hold us to high standards,” said freshman utility Jolyna Lamar. “It’s really inspiring to be around.”

Sunday’s faceoff was the first time the Bruins trailed in all series, as the Spartans plated a run off Tinsley in the top of the first. But UCLA responded in its first at-bat of the game, with sophomore outfielder Rylee Slimp hammering a home run to even the score.

The Bruins exploded in the third inning, with Grant blasting her 21st home run. Woolery followed right after her, sending one deep past left field, her 18th of the season.

“This team feeds off of a lot of energy,” Slimp said. “When one person gets us going, then everyone gets going, and it’s kind of hard to stop.”

By the end of the third, UCLA boasted a 5-1 lead and did not falter for the rest of the game.

Tinsley allowed just one more run while recording five strikeouts, bringing her total to eight across the two games she played against the Spartans. The Lawrenceville, Georgia, local boasts a 14-2 record from the circle and the second-most victories in the nation.

The Bruins completed the sweep with a 10-2 run-rule victory in six innings, the fifth time the squad have run-ruled in Big Ten play so far.

“We’re playing the game at the highest level, the coaching staff is implementing high standards and putting a little pressure on them so that they can understand that we want to be able to perform like this when we’re facing the best talent in the game toward the end of the season,” Inouye-Perez said.