With the three-game series between UCLA and Arizona hanging in the balance on Sunday afternoon, Arizona senior pitcher Estela Piñon collapsed to the dirt behind the pitcher’s mound.
In a matter of seconds, the sellout crowd at Easton Stadium went from raucous roars and thundering footsteps to stunned silence. It was seemingly the only time during the three-game series in which UCLA’s home crowd was cheerless, as the No. 3 Bruins (26-1, 3-0 Pac-12) swept the No. 6 Wildcats (23-6, 0-3).
But in that moment, the rivalry between the two Pac-12 schools was forgotten, and records went out the window. The fact that UCLA had just loaded the bases in the final inning of a tie game was an afterthought. Piñon’s health was the primary concern.
“When she collapsed, it was crazy. I got goosebumps,” said UCLA junior second baseman Gracie Goulder.
After minutes of speculation, Piñon arose from the ground. The fans rose up with her, giving Piñon a roar of encouragement as she walked off the field, bearing her weight on two trainers – one from UCLA and one from Arizona.
As Piñon disappeared into the Arizona dugout, the moment of amicability between the two teams was over. Arizona had lost its most experienced pitcher, whom it needed to replace in a bases-loaded, game-on-the-line situation.
“As a ballplayer, once she got up, and I knew she was fine, (I went) right back to focusing on the game,” Goulder said.
Although Piñon arose from her fall, UCLA had yet to fully bounce back from its own stumble. In the top half of the seventh, the Bruins had lost their control of the game, as Wildcat shortstop Kellie Fox – a UCLA transfer – belted a three-run home run to turn a 3-1 UCLA lead into a 4-3 Arizona advantage.
With UCLA’s four seventh-inning comebacks fresh in mind, the one-run seventh-inning deficit hardly seemed insurmountable for the Bruins.
“When that home run was hit, I just have so much belief in my team and just my teammates in general,” said sophomore third baseman Mysha Sataraka. “I just kind of had this feeling like nothing was wrong. We have another shot, we’re going to come back.”
Sataraka promptly tied the game up with a solo home run against Piñon to lead off the seventh inning. The next batter would ground out, but the following three Bruin batters reached base, before Piñon exited with the game still tied.
The Bruins’ next batter was Goulder, who was familiar with Piñon’s replacement – Arizona pitcher Nancy Bowling.
“I faced that same pitcher last year in Arizona, so I had a good plan on her,” Goulder said. “Fortunately, I got my pitch and just drove it up the middle.”
Goulder’s drive up the middle would sail over the center-field fence for a walk-off grand slam, UCLA’s fifth walk-off victory this season. The 8-4 win clinched a series victory for the Bruins, who had already defeated the Wildcats 1-0 on Saturday.
In Saturday’s game, pitcher Ally Carda had a familiar foe from the Wildcats whom she wanted to overcome as well. With runners on first and second in the top of the seventh, Carda faced off against Arizona first baseman Hallie Wilson, who hit a walk-off home run against Carda in Tucson, Ariz., last year.
“Last year she hit the home run off of a change up,” Carda said. “So I just was trying to go for more of the hard stuff, trying to jam her up a bit. So I just had a different plan.”
The different plan worked. This time around, Carda won the battle, as she limited Wilson to a ground out to end the game.
The series culminated on Monday in the same way it started on Saturday – with a UCLA shutout. Carda and senior pitcher Jessica Hall, who had started on Saturday and Sunday respectively, combined their efforts to seal a 2-0 victory. The win clinched the Bruins’ first sweep of the Wildcats since 2006.