From senior to freshman.

Senior utility Megan Grant surpassed Stacey Nuveman’s UCLA single-season home run record with her 32nd and 33rd home runs of the season to kick things off.

And freshman infielder Bri Alejandre finished off the game with two home runs of her own, putting her just one homer behind Nuveman’s freshman record of 20 home runs.

“Megan set the tone early in the game and broke the record and crushed it with a decisive home run and didn’t let up,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “But to see the freshman, Bri, hit the game winner is something that is just where this team is at – from a senior All-American to a freshman being able to come up with big at-bats.”

Combined with a complete game from senior pitcher Taylor Tinsley, No. 7 UCLA softball (42-5, 17-2 Big Ten) took down No. 22 Washington (34-13, 15-4) 7-5 in the opening game of the series with a 7-5 victory, ending the Huskies’ undefeated home record. Tinsley threw for eight strikeouts on the night and stranded five runners on base.

Inouye-Perez said Tinsley was sick the night before but still pitched a composed game.

“She got a lot of compliments from her team and the staff on her composure, her routine. It never changes. And she looks very consistent with that, with her composure,” Inouye-Perez said. “(She) got a lot of credit and a lot of shoutouts on how she is a fierce competitor that had the ability to stay focused and gut it out for her team when she wasn’t feeling 100% tonight.”

In the first inning, Grant gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead on the first pitch she saw, firing the ball deep into center field.

“We knew Washington had a great staff coming in, so we knew to air on the aggressive side with things,” Grant said. “I just happened to swing at the first pitch, and that’s what happened. We were looking for aggressive mindsets all throughout the game.”

When Grant came up to hit for the second time, she homered again with two strikes in the count.

Tinsley threw six strikeouts through the first four innings to keep the game scoreless until the fifth.

Infielder Mila Reddy broke Tinsley’s shutout, hitting her first home run and third overall hit of her college career in her 26th at-bat.

But after hitting the next batter, Tinsley locked down the circle for the rest of the inning, inducing three groundouts.

The Bruins got their second of two non-home run RBIs of the game to take a 5-1 lead but stranded two runners on base.

The Huskies tied the game 5-5, loading the bases and capitalizing.

Tinsley hit a batter and walked another in succession, setting the table for a three-RBI play for the Huskies. The Huskies tacked on a fifth run before Alejandre tagged a runner out at third base for the third out.

But the Bruins went back to work in the seventh inning.

After UCLA’s first batter grounded out, redshirt freshman infielder Aleena Garcia’s single was originally called an out by the first base umpire.

Alejandre – next up in the order – said she knew the call would be reversed.

“In my head, already, I was like, ‘She’s safe. It’s going to get overturned right now. She’s going to be safe. I know I’m going to come up with a runner on first base,’” Alejandre said. “I knew she had my back, and I had hers.”

A UCLA challenge successfully reversed the call, giving the Bruins just one out and a runner on base to work with.

And Alejandre worked with it, firing off a blast to give the Bruins a two-run lead.

Inouye-Perez said she could see how loose Alejandre was during her seventh-inning at-bat.

“Bri is someone who plays well when she’s loose. She has fun with it, and she’s very, very confident,” Inouye-perez said. “In that last at-bat there was a pitch – a changeup she took – and she looked at the dugout, and she kind of smiled. It’s so fun to see a young player level up in big moments, feeling very confident and staying loose to allow her skill to be able to take over.”

Tinsley put down a three-batter, two-strikeout seventh inning to clinch the win.

The Bruins and Huskies will face off again Saturday afternoon with a chance for UCLA to win the top-25 series after bringing an end to Washington’s unblemished home record Friday.

Inouye-Perez said her team enjoyed the energy that the Husky crowd brought on Senior Weekend.

“They had a great crowd tonight. At one point I called timeout when they got a rally going there, and Bri Alejandre, my freshman, was like, ‘Oh my God, isn’t this crowd awesome?’ She loved the energy, because they packed the house. It’s their last home weekend, and they’ve been very successful at home. They’ve had a great season. They’re playing great softball, but we actually enjoyed the energy.”