UCLA softball wins national championship on walk-off hit

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.