UCLA softball hits 2 grand slams to finish Ohio State in 5 innings
LOS ANGELES — The home run chain that’s shared between the family members of UCLA softball players was well-traveled Friday night.
The shining gold plastic chain with an “I’m Her” medallion was passed around and finally stopped when Megan Grant hit a walk-off grand slam to end the night early.
The Bruins beat the Buckeyes 14-6 in five innings in the first of a two-game series – and that wasn’t even the first grand slam of the game.
Kaitlyn Terry, who hits ninth, belted a grand slam in her first at-bat and pitched all five innings. The sophomore lefty gave up seven hits and struck out seven hitters while walking three.
“There’s a lot of emotion, definitely,” Terry said. “It feels like postseason. There’s just so many emotions.”
Terry’s first home run as a Bruin went over the wall in left-center field to score Liesl Osteen, Sofia Mujica and Kaniya Bragg and give the No. 9 Bruins (34-5 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) a 5-2 lead.
Terry had multiple moments of redemption. She gave up two home runs in the first inning before her grand slam and her pitching got UCLA out of a jam.
Trailing 10-5, Ohio State loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fifth on a single and two walks. Jasmyn Burns hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Hadley Parisien before Terry struck out the following two hitters to escape the inning.
“Finding different ways is what’s going to leave her name in the record books with UCLA,” Bruins head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said, “and she’s just a sophomore, so she’s still learning.”
Grant’s grand slam was her second homer of the game. Jessica Clements and Savannah Pola doubled to start the fifth inning – Pola alertly taking second on a bunt hit back to pitcher Layna Gerhard – and Jordan Woolery walked to load the bases with no outs.
Grant, who was 2 for 4 with seven RBIs, crushed the second pitch to right to end the game early.
“It was an insane game, to say the least,” Grant said. “I was extremely caught up in the moment, so I wasn’t even thinking about anything else. Honestly, it was a blackout moment.”
Ohio State, which came in leading the country with 91 home runs, took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on solo home runs by sophomores Sami Bewick and Burns.
The Bruins responded in the second with Terry’s grand slam to make it 5-2.
No. 21 Ohio State (30-7-1, 6-2) made a pitching change and brought in Kennedy Kay for Lorin Boutte. UCLA kept the hits coming.
After Pola tripled and Woolery walked, Grant, who had a .957 slugging percentage going into the game, homered over the right-field wall for her 16th of the season, a new single-season high for the junior.
Clements (2 for 4) and Pola (3 for 4), the first two hitters in the lineup, have repeatedly set Woolery and Grant up for success this season in their myriad ways of getting on base.
“What they’re doing helps turn around the lineup,” Inouye-Perez said. “And then when you have a nine-spot who has your grand slam, that’s when UCLA softball is at its best. Preparation leads to opportunities for those big, one-shot moments. A grand slam is way different than a solo home run.”
The Buckeyes, down 8-2, used their aggressive swinging to rally for three runs in the top of the third inning. Burns homered for the second time to put up two more runs and Kaitlyn Farley tripled to left field to score Reagan Milliken. Farley made a dash for home, but Clements made the throw from center field to Mujica at catcher for the out.
“It was definitely hype,” Terry said of the defensive play. “I saw her sending her home and I was like, let’s go, knowing Jess literally has a perfect throw every time. I just knew she was gonna be out.”
The Bruins added a run in the third on a Woolery RBI single and another in the fourth on Bragg’s sixth homer of the season for a 10-5 lead.
Bragg also set the program record for most times being hit by a pitch in a season. She got hit in the leg in her first at-bat of the game, which helped lead to the Bruins’ eight-run frame.