UCLA falls to Tennessee in season-ending heartbreaker at Women's College World Series
OKLAHOMA CITY — UCLA's run at the Women's College World Series ended Sunday, two innings after the Bruins and slugger Megan Grant were able to extend it.
Laura Mealer's bases-loaded, walk-off single to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning propelled Tennessee to a 5-4 win and a semifinal meeting with Texas at 9 a.m. PDT Monday.
The Volunteers (47-16) were able to do what UCLA could not in the ninth: Deliver with the base loaded. The Bruins got singles from Savannah Pola and Jordan Woolery followed by an international walk to Grant. But Alexis Ramirez, who homered earlier in the game, grounded out to first to end the inning.
Two innings earlier, Grant changed the complexion of the game and extended the Bruins' season with one swing.
Or so the Bruins and their faithful inside Devon Park thought.
Grant's two-out, two-run homer to right field off Tennessee ace Karlyn Pickens, a no-doubter that traveled 251 feet and appeared to pull the score even at 4-4, was in doubt for about 15 minutes.
A review was initiated to determine if Grant touched home plate or was interfered with by a teammate. The on-field call was upheld and play resumed.
Taylor Pannell hit a deep fly to left field to lead off the ninth, a ball that caromed off Rylee Slimp's glove and hit the white padding on the top of the wall but didn't leave the field. The play was reviewed and ruled a double.
Mealer, who knocked in two runs in the first inning to give the Vols an early lead, delivered again, this time on a 2-2 pitch from Taylor Tinsley, who came on in relief of UCLA starter Kaitlyn Terry.
Alexis Ramirez and Sofia Mujica hit solo home runs for the Bruins, who finished the season 55-13.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
23 minutes ago
- USA Today
Tennessee baseball versus Arkansas 2025 Fayetteville Super Regional game times, TV
Tennessee baseball versus Arkansas 2025 Fayetteville Super Regional game times, TV No. 14 national seed Tennessee (46-17) will begin NCAA Tournament super regional play on Saturday. The Vols will play a best-of-three series, Friday-Monday, in the Fayetteville Super Regional, hosted by No. 3 national seed Arkansas (46-13). Game 1 between the Vols and Razorbacks is scheduled for 5 p.m. EDT on Saturday and will be televised by ESPN. The second game will take place Sunday at 3 p.m. EDT (ESPN), while first pitch for Monday's if necessary series finale is to be determined. Arkansas won a regular-season series finale against Tennessee, 2-1, May 15-17, at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 'I've talked to those guys before all this started, but I didn't know it was complete," Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said of playing at Arkansas again. "When you're in the backyard, at least the neighborhood I grew up in, it was still everybody meets out on the street and you play a bunch of games, and whenever I lost, maybe my dad did it to me, I was kind of a little punk, but I always wanted to run it back. Let's redo it. "So, at the very least, my first reaction is we want to be playing this time of year, as does anybody that's left. I don't know if any other games are still going on. I haven't followed much of that stuff, but it's a blessing to be playing and this team has been confident going on the road, but at the very least they get a chance to redo the thing." PHOTOS: Tony Vitello through the years Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
New York Post
38 minutes ago
- New York Post
Wake Forest coach's viral ESPN moment creates College World Series controversy
A lip-reading moment during the ESPN broadcast of Wake Forest's loss to Tennessee in the College World Series has Demon Deacons baseball coach Tom Walter in the middle of a controversy. Some have alleged the veteran coach used a homophobic slur. Wake Forest's season came to an end in the 11-5 loss to Tennessee on Monday, but it was a moment in the bottom of the fourth inning that has caused a stir on social media right before Volunteers' first baseman Andrew Fischer hit a two-run homer to extend Tennessee's lead. Advertisement Fischer was at the plate with two outs and a 1-2 count, preparing for the next pitch, when the ESPN broadcast panned over to Walter standing at the top of the Wake Forest dugout. 4 Wake Forest coach Tom Walter. @kerrywilliams_/X Advertisement Walter had just come out to speak with the home plate umpire, and the camera zoomed in on him at the top of the dugout steps while he appeared to angrily say something. It has been speculated on social media that Walter had uttered a homophobic slur, which included baseball writer Keith Law posting about it on Bluesky. The broadcasters did not appear to catch the moment and on the next pitch, Fischer sent a massive blast over the right field wall to give Tennessee an 8-2 lead. 4 Walter was captured on camera during Fischer's at-bat. @kerrywilliams_/X Advertisement Walter didn't address the moment during his postgame press conference, nor was he asked about it by reporters following the game. The Post did reach out to Wake Forest for comment, but did not immediately hear back from the school. He did congratulate Tennessee for advancing and the fans for the atmosphere they created during the Super Regional round of the College World Series. 4 Wake Forest coach Tom Walter during the game against Tennessee. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Advertisement 'It's been a pleasure playing here the last four days. Really proud of our guys and the way we battled,' Walter said. 'Hate that it's over for our seniors and the guys we'll lose to the draft, but proud of the way we competed and two great baseball teams gave it their all today. We came up on the short end.' The NCAA regional round of the tournament has already created one controversy involving another coach after Florida manager Kevin O'Sullivan and athletics director Scott Stricklin had to apologize for a tirade toward Coastal Carolina and NCAA baseball officials over the weekend. 4 Wake Forest coach Tom Walter in 2023. Getty Images Sullivan had been caught on video berating officials over having to push back Sunday's elimination game against East Carolina because the game between Coastal Carolina and East Carolina ended so late the night before. The Gators' coach said in a statement released Monday that he had 'let my emotions get the best of me' and he wanted to 'sincerely apologize' for the way he treated the staff.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Please take Saquon Barkley off the Madden 26 cover
Please take Saquon Barkley off the Madden 26 cover Let me start this off by saying that Saquon Barkley's Madden cover looks awesome. There's no question about that. It's Barkley flying through the air doing the reverse hurdle with the help of some strings this time, instead of just purely defying gravity on his talents alone. As soon as Barkley pulled that move off against the Jaguars last season, I knew that he'd be the cover athlete for the next Madden game no matter how the Eagles' season ended. The move was too awesome. It was immediately added to the game, for crying out loud. From that very moment, everyone else was coming in second place for the cover. Learning Barkley's status as this year's cover athlete was simultaneously blissful and devastating for me, as an Eagles fan. Seeing one of your favorite players on your favorite team pull off the impossible is great. Recognizing that his moment would be honored and immortalized through the rest of time with a Madden cover is pretty cool. This is a game I grew up playing. He's the first Eagle to grace the cover in 20 years since Donovan McNabb did for Madden 2006. That's awesome. But, on the other hand, that's precisely how I know the Madden curse is real. Before you call me ridiculous, just hear me out! It's a real thing, guys. McNabb tore his ACL in November of 2006 after being named the Madden cover athlete. You can't tell me this isn't a thing. My team has lived through it. And, yes, I know that in recent years the curse hasn't been as strong as it once was. But tell that to Christian McCaffrey, who was named the Madden 25 cover athlete only to have his season go up in flames because of injury. Is Saquon Barkley great enough to avoid the curse? I'd love to believe so as a fan. But I'm also not here to take any chances. I'd like to see my team repeat for the first time in my life. I don't need Madden getting in the way of that. EA Sports, I will never forgive you if this season goes up in flames. A dynasty is done Honestly, I can't believe I'm typing this. But the greatest dynasty in modern college sports has come to an end. On Monday, Texas Tech shocked the world, beating Patty Gasso's Oklahoma Sooners in the Women's College World Series semifinals. Here's Cory Woodroof on why this is so shocking: "Since there was not a WCWS in 2020, the last non-Oklahoma winner was 2019's UCLA. The Sooners have won every title in this decade. Only three other schools (UCLA, Florida State and Florida) have won WCWS titles since 2013 since Oklahoma has won seven national titles in that span." To be very clear, Texas Tech is absolutely awesome. The story is more about how fantastic that team is rather than Oklahoma's failure. Seeing NiJaree Canady pitch in the WCWS is going to be a blast. She's the reason Tech has advanced this far — she's thrown every pitch for the team on their path through the WCWS. She'll need to be just as excellent in the championship as Texas Tech takes on Texas. What a run for Tech. What an ending for Oklahoma. This is what sports are all about. Don't talk about NBA Finals ratings The very moment we had an Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Finals locked in, the conversation online has shifted away from basketball and toward TV ratings. Because we're about to watch two small-market teams play each other at the NBA's mountaintop, there's been a lot of hand-wringing about whether people will actually watch this series or if it'll be the first NBA Finals broadcast solely on NBA TV (of course, that's not happening). But that entire conversation is so fruitless. Robert Zeglinski spells it out here: "Why do you care about the NBA's potentially low finals ratings? Do you watch high-level sports purely so you can feel like you're one of the NBA's C-suite executives? Do you like to imagine you get to wear a fancy little suit to the NBA's offices in Manhattan? Do the NBA's profit margins really "worry" you more than any of the basketball being played? Actually, do you even care about the basketball, or do you just want to diminish two small-market franchises and fanbases finally experiencing a hint of success in a league with a history of nonexistent parity? Does downplaying the inherent, wonderful magic of championship-caliber sports teams, which is why most of us well-adjusted people watch, make you feel like a better person? Why? You know what? All of that is rhetorical. Don't even bother answering. Instead, grow up and stop hemming and hawing about something that has nothing to do with how you should experience any sort of sports." Ratings don't matter — whether we're talking about the NBA or any other league. Watch the games or don't. Either way, there's no skin off your back. Quick hits: More Stefon Diggs drama ... Paul Skenes trade rumors? ... and more — Will the Patriots cut Stefon Diggs for his boat video? Charles Curtis has more here. — Here's Bryan Kalbrosky on Jeff Passan walking back Paul Skenes trade rumors. — Rebecca Lobo is urging Fever fans not to panic in Caitlin Clark's absence. Cory Woodroof has more. — The Indiana Pacers should really be thanking the Phoenix Suns right now. — Bill Simmons is ripping Pablo Torre for his reporting on Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson. — Jac Caglianone's reaction to being called up to the Royals is perfect. Andrew Joseph has more. That's a wrap, folks. Thanks for reading. Peace. -Sykes ✌️ This was For The Win's daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here.
