OKLAHOMA CITY — Megan Grant nearly got another shot at Alabama ace Jocelyn Briski as the sun set on Devon Park.
Three innings earlier, Grant tied a UCLA record with her 90th career home run. Suddenly, in the Bruins’ opening game of the Women’s College World Series on Thursday, she was one at-bat away from an opportunity to thrust UCLA back into the lead.
But Briski settled down and got Rylee Slimp to ground out to third base with Grant on deck to secure a 6-3 win for top-seeded Alabama that pushed No. 8 UCLA to the brink of elimination.
Alabama’s offense scored five runs off UCLA starter Taylor Tinsley in the fifth and sixth innings to erase a 3-1 UCLA lead built off back-to-back home runs from Slimp and Grant.
“That was a tough game. They’re a tough opponent,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “You could see they hit two home runs, we hit two home runs, but the ability to come up with those timely hits with runners on obviously makes a difference.”
“Yeah, we all knew coming in [Briski] was a competitor,” Grant said. “Just the scouting plan, she throws everything, she’s very versatile. She just had really good stuff today. We tried to compete as much as we could against her.”
Grant, who holds the NCAA single-season record for most home runs (41), is tied with Stacey Nuveman (1998-2002) for the most in UCLA history.
Tinsley took a 3-1 lead into the fifth inning but walked leadoff batter Jena Young. She then surrendered a 249-foot home run to Alexis Pupillo two batters later to tie the score.
In the sixth, Alabama’s Kristen White beat out a grounder to third, and Young dropped a bloop single to left, setting the stage for Brooke Wells.
Wells drove a pitch from Tinsley 239 feet to center field to give Briski the cushion she needed.
UCLA, which entered the game with 207 home runs on the season, was matched by Alabama, which homered twice to bring its season total to 101.
UCLA pitcher Taylor Tinsley delivers during a 6-3 loss to Alabama in the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City on Thursday.
(Jesus Ramirez / UCLA Athletics)
“I like the way we competed. I could have called a better game for Taylor,” Inouye-Perez said. “She competed. She gave everything she had. But at the end of the day, they outscored us. With that being said, the good news is that they’re pitching to Megan Grant. That’s exciting. I look forward to getting to the next game.”
The Bruins (52-9) will have to beat Arkansas on Friday night at 6:30 to avoid elimination.
Alabama (55-7) will play Nebraska in the winners’ bracket on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Jordan Woolery, the Big Ten Player of the Year who arrived in Oklahoma City hitting .500 with 34 homers and 112 RBIs, managed a single in three at-bats with a strikeout against Briski.
Tinsley threw 104 pitches in six innings of work. She allowed 10 hits and two walks.
In the end, it came down to two pitches, Inouye-Perez said.
“I mean, literally two pitches,” she said. “That’s why I say we knew Taylor has been at her strength to be able to have both sides. We know she’s an up-ball pitcher. The last time we played them, they clearly had a plan of attack.”
Briski, meanwhile, struck out nine and walked none.
“I thought Briski did an incredible job of pitching through a little adversity, then stopping it,” Alabama coach Tim Murphy said. “They scored one run with two hits. We knew they were going to get some hits. … They have over 200 home runs now.
“She limited the damage. She did not walk anybody. Then the other key stat for me was no errors on our defense. I thought it was a really well-played game, gritty by our offense.”
Briski fanned Slimp and Woolery and got Grant to pop up the first time she faced the trio.
The first two Alabama hitters to face Tinsley — Young and Wells — singled. Tinsley responded by striking out Pupillo and getting Ana Roman to ground out to second.
A more manageable situation with runners on second and third and two out, but Marlie Giles singled to left to bring home Young for the game’s first run.
Briski’s second time through the UCLA lineup didn’t prove as fruitful.
Slimp turned on a 3-2 pitch in the top of the third inning and drove it 246 feet over the wall in left-center field to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.
Then Grant stepped in and hit the second pitch she saw from Briski 224 feet to right field to extend UCLA’s lead to 3-1.
But Alabama tied the score in the bottom of the fifth after Tinsley walked Young on four pitches, then surrendered a 249-foot home to Pupillo two batters later to make it 3-3.
UCLA lost utility player Kaniya Bragg in the third inning when she singled and stumbled out of the batter’s box on her way to first base. Bragg aggravated a lower-leg injury sustained during the Bruins’ super regional win over Central Florida, according to UCLA.
“The energy was there,” Inouye-Perez said. “The attention to detail was there. We just weren’t able to execute on some of those pitches we were looking for.”
UCLA is making its NCAA record 34th appearance in the Women’s College World Series, a double-elimination tournament, and the Bruins are chasing a 13th championship.
