Women's College World Series: Tennessee walks off UCLA in extras after dramatic 7th inning
Sunday at the NCAA Women's College World Series came with a pair of win-or-go-home games. The desperate bid to stay alive in the tournament, and advance to the semifinals, came through with plenty of thrills and drama.
The first game, between No. 7 Tennessee and No. 9 UCLA, lived up to the hype. The Lady Vols walked off the Bruins with a 5-4 win in extra innings.
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As if that wasn't exciting enough, Tennessee finished the job after a dramatic seventh inning where the Lady Vols blew a two-run lead, and UCLA nearly ended its season on a technicality.
Tennessee struck first, with shortstop Laura Mealer hitting a two-run RBI in the first inning to get the Lady Vols on the board. But in the top of the second, UCLA tied things up with a pair of solo homers from catcher Alexis Ramirez and designated player Sofia Mujica.
A great defensive effort from both teams kept the score at 2-2 through the first four inning. Tennessee ace Karlyn Pickens and UCLA ace Kaitlyn Terry each threw seven strikeouts in the first five innings to keep things even.
But then in the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Vols broke through again: A huge two-run homer from third baseman Taylor Pannell gave Tennessee a 4-2 lead. The Lady Vols' hot bats kept going, with the team getting two on base, but Terry was able to close out the inning without any more damage.
After a scoreless sixth inning, UCLA had one final chance to keep their season alive at the top of the seventh. After getting two outs, Pickens had to face the Bruins' two best hitters, Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant. Woolery hit a single to keep the momentum going, and then Grant hit a massive two-run bomb to send them both home and tie the game.
But then, near-heartbreak for UCLA. While celebrating the homer, Grant stepped right over the plate, forgetting to touch it. Ramirez, who was on deck, noticed that Grant had missed the plate and led her back to step on it, but Ramirez's assistance was another violation. With two outs already, the mistake could have ended the Bruins' season right there.
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Tennessee asked the officials to review the ruling, leading to a nearly 10-minute stoppage. However, despite the very lengthy review, the umpires upheld the call that Grant was safe, saying that Grant did miss the plate but that the play was not reviewable, as stated by a niche addendum in the rulebook.
Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly, and the Lady Vols fans, were not pleased by the ruling. But the game continued, with Tennessee quickly getting the final out and setting up a potential walk-off.
Pannell nearly finished the game right from the jump, smashing a ball towards the ball fence that went just foul. But even with two batters on base, UCLA was able to get a crucial double play to end the inning and keep things moving into extras.
The stalemate continued in the eighth inning, with both teams unable to break through despite some key chances.
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With two outs at the top of the ninth, second baseman Savannah Pola and Woolery both got on base after driving singles that went just past the infield, and had bases loaded after Pickens intentionally walked Grant. But despite the opportunity, Ramirez grounded out on the next at-bat to send Tennessee back to the plate.
In the bottom of the ninth, Pannell hit a double that hit the very top of the wall, and bounced back into the park — so close to a walk-off homer. (Another review confirmed the double.) After an intentional walk, and a slightly less intentional walk, from UCLA reliever Taylor Tinsley, Tennessee had the bases loaded with one out.
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And then, the moment: Mealer, who gave the Lady Vols their first points of the game, hit a beautiful single to send Pannell home and give Tennessee the 5-4 walk-off win.
Tennessee will now move on to play Texas in the semifinals on Monday, but will have to beat the Longhorns twice in order to advance.
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