Clements hits a walk-off homer to lead UCLA past Oregon 4-2 in Women's College World Series
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jessica Clements hit a two-run walk-off home run with two outs to lead UCLA past Oregon 4-2 on Thursday night in the Women's College World Series opener for both teams.
Clements' sixth homer of the season was the second walk-off homer of the day — Oklahoma's Ella Parker hit a three-run blast against Tennessee during the early session.
Clements' blast lifted ninth-seeded UCLA (55-11) into a matchup with No. 12 Texas Tech on Saturday for a spot in the semifinals. Oregon (53-9), seeded 16th, will play unseeded Mississippi on Friday in an elimination game.
Oregon and UCLA both left the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten this season, but the game's late start gave it a Pac-12 feel. The game started 75 minutes late because storms in the area delayed the previous game. It was fitting that the game between the only West Coast teams at the World Series didn't start until nearly 10 p.m. local time.
For two brief moments, right at 10 p.m. and a few minutes later, the lights went out for several seconds and many fans turned on the flashlights on their cellphones to illuminate Devon Park.
Once the lights came on for good, there was plenty of action.
Oregon's Kedre Luschar hit a single that scored Kaylynn Jones in the third inning to put the Ducks up 1-0.
UCLA's Alexis Ramirez cranked a two-run home run in the fourth — just her fifth homer of the season — to put the Bruins up 2-1.
In the seventh, with UCLA still leading 2-1, the Bruins appeared to have the second out when Oregon's Paige Sinicki was called out on a play at the plate. The call was overturned because of obstruction by Ramirez, and the run tied the score at 2.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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