The UCLA Bruins on Tuesday night beat the Oklahoma Sooners 5-4 on a walk-off hit that capped a thrilling finish, delivering the school its 12th softball championship and 118th national title in all sports.
Sophomore Kinsley Washington dropped in an opposite-field single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to drive in pinch-runner Jacqui Prober, who scored from second on a spectacular slide around catcher Lynnsie Elam:
Washington, whose father James played football at UCLA and won two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, was 2-for-4 in the game, a day after going 4-for-4 in the Bruins’ 16-3 win over the Sooners in the first of the best-of-3 series.
The Bruins had a chance to close out the game in the top of the inning. They had taken a 4-3 lead on a solo home run in the fifth by Brianna Tautalafua and carried that score into the top of the seventh. Redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia, a two-time Player of the Year, got two outs to start the seventh and was an out away from the championship, but Oklahoma senior Shay Knighten smoked a 2-1 pitch over the left-center fence to tie the game:
Undeterred, Garcia got the next batter out to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Taylor Pack led off with a single, was sacrificed over to second and was thrown out at third on a fielder’s choice to give Oklahoma two outs. UCLA’s runner, Colleen Sullivan, advanced to second on a wild pitch. The Bruins pinch-ran for Sullivan with Prober, who scored the winning run on Washington’s walk-off hit.
The season caps an excellent campaign for the Bruins, which finished the year 57-6. They entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 overall seed, behind only Oklahoma. The Bruins went 3-0 against Oklahoma on the season, beating the Sooners once in a non-conference game in February and twice to win the championship in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma entered the NCAA Tournament with just two losses. It finished the season 57-6, with half its losses coming to the Bruins.
This is UCLA’s first softball title since 2010. The school’s 12 national championships are the most in the sport.
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