Softball stands its ground against BYU, Liberty with comeback victories

Despite slow starts, the Bruins pulled out the come-from-behind victories.

No. 2 UCLA softball (20-1) defeated BYU (10-11) and Liberty (15-9) at home by scores of 8-2 and 4-3, respectively. The Bruins scored eight of their 12 runs in the fifth inning or later in the two comebacks.

“A big part of it is how this team is impressive is in how they can fail, and come right back,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “They’re resilient Bruins.”

UCLA trailed initially in its first game against BYU, as redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia gave up a home run in the top of the second inning. But the Bruins responded one inning later with a home run by junior outfielder Bubba Nickles, followed by an RBI double for freshman catcher Colleen Sullivan to make it 2-1.

The Cougars would score again to tie the game in the top of the fifth after Garcia made a fielding error to let a base runner on, who then stole second and scored on a single in the next at bat.

But UCLA would take back the lead for good in the bottom of the inning, scoring six runs on five hits. Three singles would score the first run, followed by a triple by senior utility Zoe Shaw to score two more and an error to score one more. The inning was capped by a two-run home run by senior utility Taylor Pack – her second in as many days.

“I think the whole entire game we just knew we were going to be able to come back,” Pack said. “We know if someone doesn’t get it done the next person’s going to.”

Unlike in the BYU game, UCLA scored first in its game against Liberty on an RBI double by redshirt sophomore utility Aaliyah Jordan in the first inning.

But after sophomore pitcher Holly Azevedo got out of jams in the first and third, Liberty finally got to her in the third inning, scoring two runs on a single, double and fielding error. Garcia, who started the second game at first base, came back in to pitch at that point, giving up a run herself in the fourth inning to make it 3-1.

Though a single by Pack to score Garcia in the fourth inning and another solo home run from Nickles in the fifth helped the Bruins tie up the game at 3-3, the team squandered the opportunity to take the lead later in the fifth, getting into two rundowns to leave the bases loaded.

But UCLA would not be denied, as after Garcia got out of another jam in the seventh, she delivered the game-winning hit, doubling into right-center field to score Jordan for the walk-off 4-3 victory.

“Liberty’s a scrappy team, and they definitely came out to fight, and I think we threw punches back,” Garcia said. “Seeing stuff like that just gives everyone the confidence especially going into (Pac-12 play).”

In addition to recording the walk-off hit, Garcia finished the night with two wins in the circle, striking out 23 in 11 2/3 innings, including the last nine outs of the game against Liberty. She gave up just two earned runs on eight hits, throwing 199 pitches total.

The Bruins will head to Long Beach, California, for the second half of the UCLA/Long Beach State Invitational, facing Boston University and Long Beach State on Sunday.

Women’s basketball’s upset bid falls short as it loses to Oregon in overtime

This was updated March 9 at 9:26 p.m.

LAS VEGAS—Kennedy Burke wiped tears from her face as the final buzzer sounded.

No. 4 seed UCLA women’s basketball (20-12, 12-7 Pac-12) fell to No. 1 seed Oregon (29-3, 17-2) 88-83 in overtime of the Pac-12 tournament semifinals Saturday night.

“Specifically with this team it just shows that we can compete with any team in the country,” said the senior guard. “It just comes from loving each other and just being invested in each other.”

After trailing 86-83, UCLA had the opportunity to tie the game with 10 seconds left, but Burke dribbled the ball to the baseline and out of bounds. Coach Cori Close said the play was designed to get the ball to senior guard Japreece Dean who scored 22 points and was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

“We were trying to spread the floor,” Close said. “We wanted to get the ball to (Dean) ad come off of a backside screen and give her space to try to get to a 3-point shot. … We didn’t execute that the way we wanted to.”

Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu iced the game for good with two free throws to give the Ducks back-to-back wins against the Bruins in the semifinals.

“We’ve just got a great battle going,” Close said. “All the respect to what Oregon has built and their team but also we’ve showed something pretty darn special here too.”

After not knocking down a single shot from beyond the arc against No. 5 seed Arizona State, UCLA went 3-of-6 from 3 and Oregon – the Pac-12’s best 3-point shooting team – sunk 5-of-8.

Burke – who put up a career-high 29 points in an upset over then-No. 2 Oregon on Feb. 22 – opened the game scoring the Bruins’ first nine points and capped the quarter with a putback layup at the buzzer, trailing 25-21 going into the second period.

Defensively, the Bruins allowed the Ducks to shoot 50 percent from the field in the first but held them to 29.4 percent and just one made 3-point attempt in the second quarter.

Sophomore forward Lauryn Miller forced two turnovers on Ionescu – the Pac-12 Player of the Year – which were turned into five points in the opening minutes of the second quarter to trim the Oregon lead to one.

The Ducks, however, responded with a 7-0 run and held the Bruins scoreless for the next four and a half minutes to close the half with 36-30 advantage.

A block and a third 3-pointer from senior guard Japreece Dean in first 15 seconds of the third quarter sparked a 9-3 run, ended with a jumper from Burke for her 19th and 20th points run to tie the game at 39.

UCLA took its first lead in the game with a Burke steal and assist to sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere with under four minutes left in the third quarter.

The Bruins saw its lead tie three times until Duck guard Maite Cazorla and Ionescu drained two consecutive 3-pointers to give Oregon a 56-52 lead entering the final frame.

Dean lifted the Bruins over the Ducks with 42 seconds remaining with her second fourth-quarter 3, but Oregon forward Ruthy Hebard returned the lead to Oregon with a layup underneath the basket.

After a timeout and inbound pass from redshirt freshman guard Lindsey Corsaro, Onyenwere drew a foul to get to the charity stripe with the opportunity to give the Bruins the lead with 4.8 seconds left.

But Onyenwere missed her first, and knocked down her second to send the Bruins into overtime tied 75-75.

Onyenwere opened the overtime period with UCLA’s first four points – the last bucket to give the Bruins the 79-77 lead. A pair of free throws following a technical foul called on Close and a Hebard layup on the next possession put the Ducks up 83-81 and the lead for the remainder of the contest.

“It’s a game of inches,” Close said. “Me, as a coach, I wish I wouldn’t have gotten that (technical foul).”

UCLA will await on its seeding for the NCAA tournament with the Selection Show on March 18.

“It was a great game, (Oregon is) a great team,” Dean said. “I think it’s going to prepare us for March.”

Despite falling behind early, baseball beats Oklahoma State in comeback win

After falling just short Friday night, the Bruins were able to dig themselves out of an early hole Saturday.

No. 2 UCLA baseball (10-3) came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Oklahoma State (8-5) 6-3 in game two of the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic. Redshirt junior Jack Ralston – who was making his fourth consecutive Saturday start – went five innings deep and kept his ERA below 2.00, but he was pitching from behind for a big chunk of the afternoon.

Oklahoma State got on the board first, picking up an RBI single with two outs in the top of the opening frame. UCLA answered after senior outfielder Jake Pries drove in junior second baseman Chase Strumpf – who launched a triple to deep center the previous at-bat – to tie the game at one.

Outfielder Trevor Boone took Ralston deep in the second to give Oklahoma State a 2-1 lead, and as he was on his way back into the visiting dugout, his teammates stole his helmet and crowned him with a big, tan cowboy hat.

“They’re a physical Big 12 team,” said coach John Savage. “It’s just like the Pac-12 or any major Power Five school, that’s a legitimate offensive lineup.”

In the bottom of the inning, Pries stepped up with the bases loaded and one down, but he chopped it back to right-hander Jensen Eillot, who turned two to end the inning.

“We know we’re very capable (at the plate),” Savage said. “We’re pitching and playing good defense, and that helps things. If we weren’t doing that, it’d be pretty frustrating, but we’re gonna get hot.”

Junior first baseman Michael Toglia flashed some leather on a grounder by right fielder Cade Cabbinessin the top of the fourth, but he didn’t have time to make a play at the plate and Oklahoma State extended its lead to two.

That would be the last run the Cowboys would score, and they were never able to post a multirun inning, something Ralstron and Savage both said was major part of the team’s philosophy.

“Competing on every pitch (is important),” Ralston said. “Just getting my breath was honestly a big thing.”

For the second straight inning, the Bruins had the bases loaded with only one out . Freshman catcher Noah Cardenas popped out to right, and when Toglia tried tagging from third, he was gunned down at the plate by Cabbiness.

Ralston sat the Cowboys down in order to start the fifth for his first 1-2-3 inning of the day, picking up his sixth and final strikeout in the process.

At the bottom of the fifth, Toglia came to the dish with two outs and men on second and third. He watched the first pitch go by for a ball, then yanked the next one to left for a single that scored both runners and tied the game at three.

“It felt great,” Toglia said. “It’s always good to help your team any way you can, and that one felt good, but I’m glad that we kept pouring it on afterwards and we were able to bury them a little bit.”

Ralston walked the first batter he saw in the sixth, and Savage handed the ball to freshman right-hander Jack Filby to end Ralston’s day after three earned runs and 96 pitches.

“When he took me out, obviously, I didn’t want to go out of the game,” Ralston said. “But I just trust whatever (Savage) does and that the guy after me is gonna pick me up.”

Junior designated hitter Jack Stronach had a leadoff infield single to start the bottom of the sixth, and after sophomore shortstop Kevin Kendall advanced him to second on a suicide squeeze, pinch hitter redshirt sophomore Jarron Silva drove Stronach home on a double to give the Bruins their first lead of the day.

Two batters later, sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell sliced a double of his own to left to plate Silva and put UCLA up 5-3.

The next inning, junior right-hander Ryan Garcia entered the game to make his season debut after missing the first 12 games with flexor inflammation. Garcia walked the first batter he saw, then allowed a single.

Oklahoma State tried to lay down a bunt to advance both runners, but Garcia fielded it and threw out the lead runner at third before striking out first baseman Christian Funk and catcher Colin Simpson to end the inning.

“We’re still looking into (Garcia’s injury),” Savage said. “But it’s good to see that he’s healthy, and he pitched out of problems … that was impressive, showed his competitiveness.”

The Bruins tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler lined his third home run of the season deep over the left field wall, extending the lead to three.

The final game of the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic will start at 3 p.m. Sunday when UCLA takes on crosstown rival USC in the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, an opportunity Toglia said can’t be taken for granted.

“You never know if that’s your only chance to ever play in a stadium like that,” Toglia said. “You show up and you get to see the Hall of Fame and you get to sit where big leaguers have sat and it’s a really cool experience.”

Pac-12 regular season ends for men’s basketball with failed comeback against Utah

Just when it looked like the Bruins might return the favor, the Utes did what they had been doing all night – hit 3s.

UCLA men’s basketball (16-15, 9-9 Pac-12) ended its regular season with a 92-81 loss to Utah (17-13, 11-7). The Bruins were down by 20 at the half, and trailed by as many as 27 in the game, but they were able to cut the Ute lead to single digits with 6:44 remaining.

Freshman guard David Singleton – who was scoreless in the first half – dropped 13 in the second period, with all of those points coming in a seven-minute stretch. His hot streak was capped off by a 3-pointer that brought UCLA within eight with under seven to play.

The Bruins’ comeback was reminiscent of the Utes’ 23-point comeback in Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 9. The game ended on a buzzer-beating triple by guard Parker Van Dyke that gave Utah the 93-92 win.

But while the Bruins’ comeback efforts didn’t wind up emulating the Utes’ on Saturday, Van Dyke was able to play spoiler yet again.

A layup by sophomore guard Jaylen Hands – the first of his two field goals of the night – brought the Bruins back to within nine with 2:08 left on the clock. On the ensuing possession, Van Dyke drove a stake through the heart of the Bruins by hitting a dagger from downtown to put the game away.

Van Dyke scored 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting, with all of his attempts coming from long range. Utah’s leading scorer, guard Sedrick Barefield, hit five 3s of his own en route to a 29-point performance.

The Utes knocked down a season-high 17 3-pointers, compared to the Bruins’ six. UCLA and Utah were nearly even in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, second chance points, points off turnovers and fast break points.

After freshman center Moses Brown was benched before the game for violating UCLA student-athlete policies this week, redshirt freshman forward Jalen Hill got the start at center. Hill scored 12 points, matching his season-high from the first matchup against Utah.

Hill went 6-of-7 from the field in the first Utah game and 5-of-8 on Saturday. He also reeled in 13 boards – his second-highest total of the year. Hill played 32 minutes, also his second-highest mark of the year behind his 33 minutes in the first game against the Utes.

Hands scored seven points to go along with four assists and four turnovers, while fellow sophomore guard Kris Wilkes led the Bruins in scoring with 20.

Wilkes shot 9-of-12 from the charity stripe, hitting almost half of the Bruins’ 20 free throws. He went 1-of-4 from deep, but did not record a turnover in his 38 minutes on the court.

With the loss, UCLA will be penciled in as either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed in next week’s Pac-12 tournament. The Bruins would have secured the No. 3 seed and a bye with two wins this weekend, but they were sent home on the losing end of a road sweep instead.

Revolution Club leads march through Westwood in support of universal women’s rights

Students and locals marched through Westwood for International Women’s Day on Friday.

About 35 people walked on the streets to show their support for universal women’s rights, briefly disrupting traffic. The group also marched to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a 1979 protest led by the Communist Party of Iran in which Iranian women protested against being forced to wear hijabs.

Demonstrators chanted in English, Spanish and Farsi. The participants chanted “Rise up for the women of the world, rise up for the women of Iran,” “Break the chain, unleash the fury of women as a mighty force of revolution,” and “What’s the solution? Revolution.”

The Revolution Club at UCLA, the local segment of a national group representing the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, worked with the Los Angeles club to organize the Westwood march, said Tala Deloria, a sixth-year geography student and member of the group.

“We are aiming to end all antagonistic divisions between humanity throughout the world,” Deloria said. “That’s the white supremacy, the patriarchy, all of it.”

AJ Jamaal, an organizer of the march, said the group chose to demonstrate in Westwood because of the prominent Iranian and Persian community in the area.

Phil Lee, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, said LAPD was informed of the march by the Revolution Club.

Fifty LAPD officers were scattered across Westwood to maintain order during the march, Lee said. Several officers were tasked with intermittently closing streets, directing traffic and riding on motorcycles alongside the marchers.

Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck said in an email that traffic was expected to be heavily impacted during the march.

The march began at 2:30 p.m. when demonstrators gathered at the intersection of Westwood Boulevard and Le Conte Avenue outside of Broxton Brewery. The demonstrators then marched on Wilshire Boulevard to Veteran Avenue and Ohio Avenue, ending at Le Conte Avenue.

Kaitlyn Manuel, a fourth-year anthropology student, was walking to her apartment when she noticed the marchers along the street. Manuel said she had never participated in a march and was interested in a flyer the demonstrators had passed out about the 40th anniversary of the Iranian women’s uprising.

Luna Hernandez, a UCLA alumna and member of the Revolution Club, said she marched to support all women around the world.

“This is a quote from our leader Bob Avakian: ‘You can’t break all the chains except one, you can’t keep women enslaved to the other half of humanity,'” she said.

Chantelle Eastman, a North Westwood Neighborhood Council member and a development coordinator for the UCLA department of neurology, said she has participated in International Women’s Day events for the past several years and decided to participate in the march because it was in Westwood.

“I’ve been in a lot of male-dominated spaces throughout my life. A lot of times I’ve been the only female in the room,” Eastman said. “We need a lot more women to be visible, so I came out to add to it.”

Power outage affects 1,100 LADWP customers in and around Westwood

This post was updated March 11 at 11:36 a.m.

Residents across Westwood lost power Saturday afternoon.

A power outage occurred around 1 p.m. in Westwood, affecting around 1,100 Los Angeles Water and Power customers in the area, an LADWP spokesperson said. Power is expected to return by 10 p.m.

The LADWP spokesperson said they did not have information on the cause of the outage.