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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Softball: UCLA wins Pac-12 tourney!
Posted Sat, May 11 8:20 pm (Edited Sat, May 11 8:30 pm)
The Bruins won a pitcher’s duel against upstart Utah to win the Pac-12 tournament by a 2-1 score. Kaitlyn Terry pitched a great game, allowing only a solo HR in the 5th that tied the game. The Bruin freshman outpitched Utah P Mariah Lopez.

Charlize Palacios has had the hot hand down the stretch and she again had the game winning RBI with a solo HR in the 6th. She has now homered 6 times in the last 13 games.

Taylor Tinsley got the save pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th. Putting Tinsley in the game turned the batters around having to face a righty after going through the order twice against a lefty.

The only remaining drama is whether UCLA did enough to receive a top 8 seed for the NCAA tourney. If anything, UCLA should be seeded above Stanford no matter what the RPI says. UCLA finished ahead of the Cards in the regular season, won the P12 tourney, and swept them in the regular season series.
UclanDoIt
Joined: 1/13/14 Posts: 3,917

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UCLA SB final Pac 12 Tourney champion, seedings tomorrow
Posted Sat, May 11 8:47 pm
In response to Softball: UCLA wins Pac-12 tourney! (Woochifer)
I think UCLA as the Pac 12 regular season and tournament champion will be a top 8 seed. The latest rankings I've seen from various sources show UCLA inside the top 8.

The tournament pairings will be announced tomorrow at 4:00 PM on ESPN2. I don't think there is one dominant team as in previous years with Oklahoma. The Sooners will still be up there but I believe Texas will be the top seed.

It was great to see Tinsley back on the mound for UCLA this weekend. Hopefully with additional rest before the NCAA Tournament begins, she will be ready to pitch more innings. Tinsley and Terry plus a timely offense gives UCLA a chance in a tournament that is wider open than the past few seasons.
UclanDoIt
Joined: 1/13/14 Posts: 3,917

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UCLA 6th seed, Texas top seed in NCAA SB Tournament
Posted Sun, May 12 3:50 pm
In response to UCLA SB final Pac 12 Tourney champion, seedings tomorrow (UclanDoIt)
UCLA will host the LA Regional as the sixth seed. They can now advance to the WCWS by winning their games at home. The Bruins open with Grand Canyon. Virginia Tech and San Diego State are the other teams in this regional.

Stanford was seeded 8th, the last team that can host until the WCWS by winning at home.

Texas is the overall top seed, Oklahoma is 2nd. All 13 SEC teams made the tournament. Arizona, Cal, Oregon, Utah, and Washington were the other teams making the field from the final season of the Pac 12 conference.
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Here's the NCAA softball tourney bracket
Posted Sun, May 12 5:23 pm (Edited Sun, May 12 5:37 pm)
In response to Softball: UCLA wins Pac-12 tourney! (Woochifer)
https://uclabruins.com/news/2024/5/12/softball-ucla-to-host-ncaa-regionals-as-no-6-seed

https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/softball/d1/2024

With a #6 overall seed, UCLA's regional opponents are all very familiar foes. San Diego State is coached by Bruin legend Stacey Nuveman-Deniz, and former Bruin AA Delanie Wisz is an assistant coach. Super senior Alyssa Garcia is another Bruin alum, playing her 1st four seasons in Westwood and spending her final year of eligibility playing for her hometown team. SDSU is playing in the LA Regional for the 2nd year in a row. Even though they didn't play UCLA, the Aztecs won last year's LA Regional.

Last year, Grand Canyon upset #2-seeded UCLA in the opening game of the regional, and GCU is back in the Los Angeles Regional for the 3rd year in a row.

The other team in the LA Regional is Virginia Tech, who beat UCLA in the opening game of the 2021 LA Regional, handing national POTY Rachel Garcia her 1st loss of the season. The Bruins had to beat VA Tech and their AA pitching ace Keely Rochard in a couple of elimination games to advance to the Super Regional. The Bruins beat the Hokies 8-4 earlier in the season.

On the other side of the bracket, if UCLA advances to the Super Regional, they will host the winner of the Athens Regional. #11-seed Georgia is the top seed in that regional, and they beat UCLA 7-2 earlier in the season, roughing up Georgia-native Taylor Tinsley in that loss.

The Athens Regional also includes Liberty, who are coached by former UCLA AA Dot Richardson. Liberty eliminated UCLA in the LA Regional last year. The other teams are Charlotte and UNC-Wilmington.

Unlike last year, the Bruins have been playing their best ball at the end of the season. The big question mark remains the pitching depth -- how will Tinsley and Terry fare in the high pressure grind of a regional double-elimination format? Terry is a true freshman, and this is Tinsley's first year pitching extended meaningful innings. For both of them, this will be their first time pitching in the NCAA tournament.
UCLA888
Joined: 10/29/22 Posts: 408
Gabriela Jaquez joining the Softball team for NCAAs
Posted Tue, May 14 8:55 am (Edited Tue, May 14 9:01 am)
In response to Softball: UCLA wins Pac-12 tourney! (Woochifer)
Now dual sport athlete and up & coming influencer on TikTok/IG. Hope we'll get to see some at bats!

Day in the Life of UCLA Basketball Star Gabriela Jaquez
https://youtu.be/r38rm6Px8Hg

https://twitter.com/dailybruin/status/1790240852587192668
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Likely for pinch running purposes
Posted Tue, May 14 12:44 pm (Edited Tue, May 14 1:03 pm)
In response to Gabriela Jaquez joining the Softball team for NCAAs (UCLA888)
Jaquez played softball for 3 years in high school, and the DB article says that she has a lifetime .271 average. That likely won't cut it against postseason D1 pitching.

Gabriela's probably on the postseason roster just as a pinch running option, not for hitting or fielding. The Bruin roster does not have a lot of speed on the basepaths, and they've struggled at times to manufacture runs this season. In years past, they've brought in players from the women's soccer team to serve as postseason pinch runners. Because she played softball in high school, Jaquez presumably knows the baserunning nuances, like sliding and avoiding tags and interference calls, better than other athletes that the softball team could have brought on board.
UCLA888
Joined: 10/29/22 Posts: 408
She just posted a cool video of herself on TikTok
Posted Tue, May 14 4:48 pm (Edited Tue, May 14 5:06 pm)
In response to Likely for pinch running purposes (Woochifer)
in both basketball and softball uniforms here: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabsjaquez/video/7368969559350512938
Also a bunch of pics she put up on her IG too. Her TikTok has a lot of dances she's been doing for a while including a few with Jamie which is pretty fun to watch.

Yeah, I figured she would basically be a cheerleader and great PR for the team as women's basketball got so much press this past season including more viewers than the men's games that ESPN will probably be 'pitching' this every chance they get with UCLA WBB being the potential National Champs next season which is a good thing for softball in general and hopefully attract more NIL sponsors for our women student athletes.

But if we are up big on a team, I'd have her try an at bat as a sub maybe. Anything to get the UCLA brand out there and maybe Jaime and Uncle Tom will show up at the games too. All positive stuff.