This post was updated May 29 at 9:50 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY — It is hard to stack runs in a single game. 

It is even harder to plate an onslaught of runners in a single frame.

The Bruin bats exploded in the second inning for nine runs, keeping them in Oklahoma City for at least two more days.

Meanwhile, the Razorbacks needed three pitchers – each only recording one out – to close out the second inning.

“That rally was what we do. Hitting is contagious,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “We are contagious, and that’s when we’re at our best.”

No. 8 seed UCLA softball (53-9, 20-4 Big Ten) eliminated No. 5 seed Arkansas (47-13, 15-9 SEC) in an 11-0 five-inning, run-rule contest in the losers’ bracket of the Women’s College World Series on Friday night. UCLA will now get a day off before facing the loser of No. 11 seed Texas Tech and No. 7 seed Tennessee on Sunday in another elimination game.

Senior pitcher Taylor Tinsley and the Bruin defense put up five scoreless innings. The Bruin ace allowed three hits and walked two batters, limiting her pitch count to 61 – she threw 104 pitches in the Bruins’ first WCWS game Thursday.

“Knowing that we’re going to have a longer road with the goal of still being the last team standing, we have to be able to conserve our energy, so that was huge,” Inouye-Perez said. “Great to have an off day tomorrow, but it was huge for them to be able to shorten that game today.”

Senior pitcher Taylor Tinsley and the Bruin defense put up five scoreless innings. The Bruin ace allowed three hits and walked two batters. 

Every Bruin reached home plate in a second inning where they scored nine runs – tying for the second most runs in a single WCWS inning – against three different Razorbacks pitchers.

Redshirt freshman infielder Aleena Garcia kickstarted the scoring in the second inning with the very first pitch she saw, lifting the ball over the wall for her first WCWS home run. 

“I want to shout out Aleena, because she started it for us tonight. Sticking to our game plan, we always say ‘Loosen the pickle jar,’” said senior utility Megan Grant. “It’s not any one person, it could be all of us, and today it was Aleena, and (I’m) so proud of you.”

The Bruins added three more runs and chased the first Razorbacks’ pitcher, Payton Burnham,  out of the circle. Sophomore infielder Kaniya Bragg – who missed part of Thursday’s game with an injury – was hit by a pitch, and redshirt junior Alexis Ramirez roped a single down the left field line, setting up junior utility Soo-Jin Berry to hammer her fifth home run of the season. 

And Razorbacks pitcher Saylor Timmerman couldn’t do any better than her predecessor. She walked two Bruin batters before senior utility Megan Grant barrelled her 42nd home run of the season to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead.

With her 91st career homer, Grant set the UCLA career home run record, surpassing Bruin alumnus Stacey Nuveman Deniz.

“When Megan hits home runs, I back up. Megan is different when she gets home runs. She – oh my gosh, her energy – she’s a big energy starter for us,” Garcia said. “She’s the biggest killer up to bat, and she starts a lot of things for us.”

Still without a second out in the inning, Timmerman walked senior infielder Jordan Woolery to bring Garcia back up again. A pop-up got Arkansas the second out, and Timmerman’s night ended with another walk.

Pitcher Robyn Herron eventually closed the inning with a strikeout, but not before Bragg made contact her second time up, bashing the ball off the top part of the wall for a two-run double.

Arkansas countered in the bottom half of the frame, putting three on base with two outs in the inning, including on two walks. But Garcia caught a flyout to prevent the Razorbacks from scoring. 

A wild pitch with the bases loaded in the third brought home the 10th run of the game for the Bruins.

In the top of the fifth, freshman utility Jolyna Lamar hit a home run to extend the Bruins lead further. With four different Bruins homering Friday night, the Westwood squad tied a WCWS record.  

UCLA’s 11 runs are the most scored in a single game through six games at this year’s WCWS, where six teams remain.