One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Four home runs from four different athletes lifted No. 7 UCLA softball (43-5, 18-2 Big Ten) to a 7-2 victory against No. 22 Washington (34-14, 15-5) in the second game of the series Saturday. The Bruins tied the NCAA single-season home run record from the beginning of the season – 161 set by Oklahoma in 2021 – with the four Saturday four-baggers.

Sophomore outfielder Rylee Slimp was one of the Bruins who added another home run to her season total, making her the eighth Bruin to reach double-digit blasts this season.

“It’s super awesome,” Slimp said. “Just how much I’ve improved with long ball from last year, so it’s really cool things are starting to click for me. Now, I’m getting higher numbers in that area.”

Previously, the UCLA record for the highest number of players to reach double-digit home runs in a single season was five, from the 2003 and 2010 campaigns, respectively.

Redshirt freshman infielder Aleena Garcia put the Bruins on the board in the top of the second, plating sophomore infielder Kaniya Bragg, who had been walked earlier in the inning. The pair of runs also pushed UCLA ahead of Washington, which had scored a run in the first.

“I’m not really thinking about results or trying to hit home runs,” Garcia said. “It comes from a trust and belief in my team and my coaching staff, and also myself, knowing that if I don’t get the job done, I believe the next person will.”

Seniors infielder Jordan Woolery and utility Megan Grant were the other pair of home-run hitters against the Huskies.

Redshirt junior catcher Alexis Ramirez and Bragg scored the other runs in the top of the third after freshman infielder Bri Alejandre reached on an error while the bases were loaded.

“We don’t have proven All-Americans in the program as far as some of the younger Bruins, but they are playing like All-Americans,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “With that, the recognition of Bri Alejandre and Garcia being named two of the top 25 freshmen in the country just speaks volumes of what our program is about. We bring in freshmen – and they play, and they gain experience and they get stronger.”

And the underclassman success extends beyond the lineup.

Freshman pitcher/utility Natalie Cable came in as a relief pitcher in the second, pitching 3.2 scoreless innings, which matched her longest scoreless outing of the season from her Feb. 6 debut, and recording four strikeouts.

“Pitching came in, did their job, defense had their backs, and then our offense is continuing to trust the process and having good results,” Garcia said.

Washington infielder Alexis DeBoer advanced to home on a hit from Ava Carroll in the bottom of the first to take the initial lead. The Huskies knotted the game in the second off a home run from infielder Gabi Toney.

However, they were unable to hold off the Bruins, whose five-run victory exceeded their two-run margin of victory from Friday’s game.

“We definitely went in today looking to make a lot of adjustments, and we did well with that as a team,” Slimp said. “I think today was definitely a better win for us and felt a little more comfortable.”

While the Bruins clinched the series triumph, they will face the Huskies once more.

However, the UCLA squad is ready to take on any challenge, no matter the pitch.

“This team has done an outstanding job all year of being able to find a way to stick to a plan or make adjustments throughout,” Inouye-Perez said. “The strength of our team is that anybody can come up and do some damage, and we’re not relying on any one, which makes our lineup very fierce.”