OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Brooke Wells hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning and top-seeded Alabama rallied to beat UCLA 6-3 on Thursday night in the opening round of the Women’s College World Series.
Alabama (55-7) will play Saturday against the winner of the nightcap between No. 4 seed Nebraska and fifth-seeded Arkansas. No. 8 seed UCLA (52-9) will play an elimination game against the loser on Friday.
Kristen White and Jena Young had one-out singles off UCLA starter Taylor Tinsley before Wells homered for the 24th time to break a 3-3 tie.
Young and Wells, who broke out of a 3-for-18 postseason slump, had singles leading off the first and Marlie Giles’ two-out base hit gave Alabama a 1-0 lead.
Megan Grant clubbed her NCAA-record 41st home run this season following a two-run shot by Rylee Slimp off Jocelyn Briski and UCLA grabbed a 3-1 lead in the third.
Grant tied Stacey Nuveman’s school record with the 90th of her career. She extended UCLA’s NCAA record to 202 homers on the season. It was the Bruins 47th multi-homer inning.
Young, who went 3 for 3, also drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and scored on Alexis Pupillo’s 20th homer to tie it 3-3. Pupillo and Wells gave the Crimson Tide two 20-plus home run hitters for the first time in school history.
Briski (24-3) entered with a 17-inning scoreless run in the postseason. She retired the first seven UCLA hitters, which hadn’t happened in any game this season. Briski allowed three runs on six hits with nine strikeouts.
Tinsley (32-7) surrendered six runs on 10 hits and became the first Bruin to make 16 straight starts on the mound since Rachel Garcia in 2018.
UCLA lost for first time in 42 games this season when leading after four innings. The Bruins averaged 10.9 runs per game, nearly 1 1/2 more than any of the other seven remaining teams.
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