More than a third of the Bruins’ wins this season have been mercy rules.
No. 2 UCLA softball (42-2, 16-1 Pac-12) beat unranked Utah (15-31, 4-13) 9-1 at Easton Stadium on Saturday night for its 16th run-rule victory of 2019. Saturday’s five-inning win – and UCLA’s second win in the series – also pushed the Bruins to a 16-1 Pac-12 record to match No. 5 Arizona at the top of the conference standings.
Freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo, who pitched out of a bases-loaded and no-out scenario in the first inning, earned her 14th win of the season with seven strikeouts and five hits in 99 pitches.
Despite her two losses this season, Faraimo has the second-highest win count in the Bruins’ pitching rotation, with redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia and sophomore pitcher Holly Azevedo both currently undefeated with 19 and nine wins, respectively.
Assistant coach Kirk Walker said the squad reflected on Friday’s close win prior to Saturday’s matchup, and that UCLA’s four-run first inning and three-run second came from a change in mentality during batting sessions.
“It all started in batting practice, where we were a little bit more locked in and focused,” Walker said. “We worked more on the down ball, and the players really had a great (batting practice) before the game today. I’m not really surprised that we hit that well, because I feel like we did so well earlier on.”
Sophomore designated player Malia Quarles finished the game 2-for-2 with an RBI single in the first and a solo shot to left center in the fourth. UCLA and Utah combined for four home runs on Saturday – not including sophomore short stop Briana Perez’s single-turned-home run after an outfield error – to extend their combined series total to six home runs in two days.
Quarles said her hitting performance came from greater communication in the dugout and on the field. She said UCLA tried to focus more on hitting for power after Friday’s small-ball display.
“I was just really focused. I was talking to the batters in front of me, trying to get a plan and see what (Utah’s pitchers) were throwing at them,” Quarles said. “When I got up there, I knew exactly where I was going to take the ball.”
Saturday’s win also comes during UCLA softball’s Alumni Weekend, in which members of previous NCAA championship-winning teams return to Easton for recognition of their accomplishments as Bruins.
“We weren’t feeling pressure, we were feeling pride,” Walker said. “Between innings, when we heard all of those national championships being recognized and saw players in the stands who were on those teams in attendance, it gave us a great, prideful feeling for the program.”
Senior third baseman Brianna Tautalafua, who finished 2-for-3 with a two-run single in the second inning, also felt the alumni’s presence and said her and her team gave the alumni an offensive performance representative of UCLA’s current program.
“Playing in front of the alumni is an honor because they paved the way for us and set a standard for us to be able to play how we played today,” Tautalafua said. “It’s a really great feeling to entertain them and give them a show since they have been supporting us for the whole season.”
The Bruins will look to complete the sweep and extend their conference lead when finishing their series against the Utes with a Sunday matinee.