UCLA softball uses 7-run inning to complete comeback against Arizona

Senior Sharlize Palacios hits a grand slam in the fifth inning as the Bruins pick up their second win over the Wildcats in the weekend series.

LOS ANGELES — The UCLA softball team used a seven-run inning that included a solo home run and a grand slam to beat Arizona, 11-7, on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at Easton Stadium.

“We have a belief,” head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez told reporters after the game. “Give us one pitch. One pitch is all we need and anything can happen. We believe in Bruin magic.”

Megan Grant hit a solo home run over the center field wall to begin the bottom of the fifth inning and Maya Brady hit a bases-loaded two-run double to score Seneca Curo and Taylor Stephens. Sharlize Palacios’ grand slam tied the game at 7-7.

Palacios (2-for-4, four RBIs) has hit three three-run homers and a grand slam in her last five games against Arizona. She was thinking of her late grandmother as she approached the plate before Sunday’s grand slam.

“I was composed in that moment,” Palacios said, “and I just want to give thanks to God and my grandma that had passed away. I just felt her energy in me in that at-bat and it’s just all about those moments. That’s a core memory right there that I just created.”

Sharlize said she was thinking of her late grandmother during this at-bat.

"I want to give thanks to God and my grandma," she said. "I felt her energy in me." https://t.co/vNodV4rNj3

— Haley Sawyer (@haleymsawyer) April 29, 2024

Thessa Malau’ulu hit an RBI single in the sixth inning that allowed Jordan Woolery to score the go-ahead run.

With the win, UCLA took two of the three games against Arizona (32-15-1, 13-11) in the weekend series. The Bruins won 10-2 in five innings on Friday — which extended their winning streak to seven games — and lost 8-4 on Saturday.

All three games featured sellout crowds as UCLA and Arizona met for their last-ever rivalry series in the Pac-12. The Bruins will head to the Big Ten next season and Arizona is leaving for the Big 12.

The Bruins were held hitless until that fifth inning and were trailing 7-0. It was the most runs scored in one inning by UCLA (30-10 overall, 14-4 Pac-12) all season. Freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Terry pitched a scoreless four innings to close out a complete-game effort in her second consecutive start.

Terry wasn’t originally slated to start, but Inouye-Perez made a decision during warmups to send her in.

“I’m just gonna say the plan changed,” Inouye-Perez said. “To be able to put our team in a position to win, I chose to switch it to go to KT.

“She’s resilient, she’s tough, she’s relentless and she’s going to have a great career but for her to lock down the way she did — I mean for them to put a seven spot on so early and for her to find ways to get out of jams, it’s just a credit to her toughness.”

Arizona’s Taylor Biehl hit a solo home run to start the second inning, but Terry struck out two hitters later in the frame to help get out of the inning.

Arizona kept the big hits coming with a two-run home run from Biehl in the top of the third inning. Olivia DiNardo also had sacrifice fly to left field earlier as the  Wildcats grabbed a big early lead.

UCLA scored additional runs in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Brady (2-for-4, three RBIs) and a two-run single by Allchin. At one point, five seniors in a row had recorded a hit in the frame.

“Everybody’s on a high note right now,” Brady said. “Senior Day is super emotional, just naturally, especially when you do the ceremony before the game, but I that was just a gutsy win and I think everybody’s feeling good.”

Six UCLA seniors were honored as part of Sunday’s Senior Day celebrations: Brady, Allchin, Malau’ulu, Palacios, Janelle Meoño and Madison Pacini. Seneca Curo, the Bruins’ seventh senior, will be returning to UCLA for another season.

Brady will graduate as one of the most decorated UCLA softball players as the 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year and Pac-12 batting champion. She also was a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist last year and was an NFCA First-Team All-American in 2021 and 2023.

Brady, who also plays for Team USA, is tied with Stephany LaRosa in career home runs with 66.