Arizona again surrenders sizable late lead to UCLA, falls 6-5 in Pac-12 softball tourney semis

Leading 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth against top seed UCLA in the conference tournament semifinals in Stanford, California, the Bruins, ranked sixth nationally coming in, sent 12 batters to the plate and rattled off six runs in the inning — all six coming with two outs.

Arizona got one back, but UCLA held on to defeat the Wildcats 6-5; the Bruins advance to Saturday’s tourney title game, a rematch of last year’s tournament championship between UCLA (36-10) and Utah (34-19).

The sixth-seeded Utes upset second seed Stanford, this year’s tournament host and the No. 8 team nationally, 2-1 earlier in the day Friday in the other semifinal.

Less than two weeks ago, Arizona led the Bruins 7-0 in the fifth inning of a regular-season rubber match in Los Angeles. A win there would have secured a series victory for the Wildcats and, though they didn’t know it at the time, would have helped Arizona finish in third place in the Pac-12’s regular-season race.

But UCLA piled on 11 straight runs to take the game, 11-7, the series, 2-1, and quiet the Wildcats’ late-season momentum.

A win that late-April afternoon would also have given legitimacy to Arizona’s likely desire to host an NCAA regional at Hillenbrand Stadium. The top 16 seeds will host regionals, and Arizona (34-16-1) entered the weekend ranked anywhere from No. 18 to No. 22 in the major polls, and No. 23 in RPI.

This go-round, and a win Friday — let alone a chance to win the tournament crown over Utah, who the Wildcats took 2 of 3 from last month in Salt Lake City — could have had the same NCAA seeding impact for Arizona.

But in those last two games the Wildcats played against the Bruins, UCLA has outdueled Arizona by a combined score of 17-1 from the bottom of the fifth inning on, stealing both wins in the process. The Wildcats led by a combined score of 12-0 going into the bottom of the fifth of the two games.

In terms of the upcoming NCAA tournament, it’s a given the Wildcats will be back in the field this season after a one-year hiatus in 2023; the UA had been to the tournament 35 consecutive times until missing out a year ago.

Arizona and the rest of the nation will learn their NCAA fate — for the UA, that means mostly likely, but not definitively yet, away from Tucson — Sunday at 4 p.m. The 2024 tournament selection show will air on ESPN2.

On Friday against UCLA, Arizona scored first by putting up four in the top of the third inning. Tucson High alumna and Wildcat senior Carlie Scupin had a three-run home run, followed by a sacrifice fly from former Cienega standout Blaise Biringer that scored senior Allie Skaggs, a grad locally of Ironwood Ridge.

In that fateful fifth inning, UCLA first cut into Arizona’s 4-0 lead when two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year Maya Brady hit a two-out, two-run single, followed by an RBI single from Jaydelyn Allchin.

After that, former Arizona Wildcat Sharlize Palacios, who transferred to UCLA from Tucson two seasons ago, punished her former team again. Palacios, who hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth in that 11-7 finish against the UA last month in Los Angeles, hit a two-run bomb Friday to give the Bruins the lead for the first time.

UCLA would add what turned out to be the game-winner when pinch-hitter Madison Pacini walked with the bases loaded. Arizona’s Olivia DiNardo, a night after her five RBIs paced Arizona to its 11-3 run-rule quarterfinal win over fourth-seeded Washington, hit a solo shot in the sixth to trim the UCLA lead to 6-5; that score would hold in the end.

Arizona’s Brook Mannon started in the circle, giving up two hits and a walk in two innings. She gave way then to Aissa Silva, who shut UCLA down for two innings, before the Bruins went off in that fateful fifth frame. Silva’s eventual line: 2 2/3 innings pitched, five hits, six earned runs allowed.

UCLA, which swept Utah 6-2, 6-5 and 12-1 in early March in Los Angeles, fell 7-4 to the Utes a year ago this week in the championship game of the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament. UA’s Hillenbrand Stadium was the host site of last year’s tournament.

Saturday’s 2024 title game from Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium at Stanford is at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.