By Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY — It was a tough close for a great UCLA softball team.
The Bruins saw their season end in dramatic fashion Sunday evening, falling 8-7 to Texas Tech in nine innings in an elimination game at the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park. UCLA finished the season 53-10 after going 1-2 at this year’s WCWS. Texas Tech improved to 59-8 and advanced for a chance to face Alabama in the semifinals.
UCLA, the designated home team, showed the fight that carried it all season. Trailing 6-4 and down to its final out in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Bruins rallied for three runs to tie the game and force extra innings. After a scoreless eighth, Texas Tech broke the 6-6 tie with two runs in the top of the ninth.
The Bruins answered with one run in the bottom half and put the potential tying and winning runs on base, but Texas Tech ace NiJaree Canady recorded the final two outs with runners on first and second to end UCLA’s final threat.
Jordan Woolery gave UCLA one of its biggest swings of the season. With two outs in the seventh, she launched a game-tying two-run home run to keep the Bruins alive. It was Woolery’s second homer of the night. She also hit a two-run shot in the first inning to give UCLA a 2-1 lead and finished 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs.
Woolery said the final moments felt fitting for a senior class that never stopped believing.
“Before our last at-bat, I told Meg, ‘We’re made for this,’” Woolery said, referring to teammate Megan Grant. “I knew it was going to come down to us.”
Texas Tech’s ninth-inning rally included an RBI double by Kaitlyn Terry and another run that scored on a UCLA fielding error with the bases loaded and two outs. Terry, a former Bruin, helped limit UCLA in relief, while Canady earned the win after allowing five runs and five hits in four innings.
UCLA pitcher Taylor Tinsley threw all nine innings, allowing eight runs, seven earned, on 14 hits. She struck out seven and walked six in a determined complete-game effort.
After the game, UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez praised her seniors for the way they carried the program.
“Culture is our strength,” Inouye-Perez said. “We play together as a team. We win, we lose together as a team.”
She added that the senior class left a lasting mark in Westwood.
“Loyalty is big. Family is important being a Bruin,” Inouye-Perez said. “They’re loyal Bruins who took care of the program.”
The loss ended UCLA’s third consecutive trip to the Women’s College World Series. It was not the ending the Bruins wanted, but it was a finish that reflected their season — gritty, resilient and full of fight until the final pitch.