OKLAHOMA CITY -- Rachel Garcia felt it was a matter of time before she got the run support she needed.
UCLA came through.
The Bruins scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning, and Garcia avenged her only loss of the season to help UCLA beat Pac-12 rival Arizona 6-2 in the Women's College World Series on Friday night.
"I mean, I think we were getting on it all game," Garcia said. "But I think we just didn't have our moment till that last inning. I mean, like I said, we were swinging at balls, but they were going right to people. Started making a little bit more of an adjustment, hitting it to the gaps, coming up huge in moments that were needed."
The Bruins (53-6) advanced to the semifinals Sunday. They need one more victory to reach the championship series.
Garcia was 20-0 this season before losing to Arizona on May 9 in Los Angeles. This time, she threw a complete game and allowed just four hits. She also threw every pitch for UCLA in the Bruins' victory over Minnesota on Thursday.
Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza had two solo home runs for Arizona (48-13).
There was plenty of history in Friday's matchup. UCLA and Arizona are first and second in national championships and World Series appearances. UCLA has 12 national titles and 29 World Series appearances and Arizona has eight national titles and 23 World Series appearances.
UCLA opened the scoring in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Garcia. Palomino-Cardoza tied the game with a solo blast to right field.
UCLA pinch-hitter Malia Quarles' solo home run put the Bruins up 2-1.
"I didn't swing at the two previous pitches," Quarles said. "I'm not striking out, I'm going to hit there. I saw the pitch, I'm swinging as hard as I can. I just swung. It felt pretty good."
In the sixth, Arizona had two on with no outs and runners at second and third with one out, but Garcia escaped.
UCLA's Aaliyah Jordan's double scored Briana Perez in the seventh to push the Bruins' lead to 3-1. UCLA then took advantage of Arizona's fielding mistakes to go up 6-1. An error on left fielder Carli Campbell scored two. Campbell had made a dynamic diving catch in the fourth inning.
"I was very pleased with the team, I thought for six innings," Arizona Coach Mike Candrea said. "Too bad we're not a little league team, only play six. The seventh inning just really got a little bit out of hand."
Arizona will play Florida or Alabama in an elimination game tonight.
"Right now we're just going to kind of get over it as quick as we can and realize that we still have games to play," Candrea said. "I think that's the big thing right now. I'm not one that lives in the past. I'm going to get over this one really quick, start getting them ready for tomorrow, whoever we play."
OKLAHOMA 6, OKLAHOMA STATE 1
Giselle “G” Juarez struck out 11 and gave up 1 run in 6 innings to help Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State.
It was the first time the in-state rivals played in the World Series, and the matchup helped draw a single-session record crowd of 9,820.
Oklahoma (56-3), which is seeking its third national title in four years, advanced to the semifinals on Sunday and needs one victory to reach the championship series.
The game included a delay of about 20 minutes after the lights behind right field went out in the fifth inning.
Samantha Show pitched 4 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits for Oklahoma State (45-16). She went the distance in a victory over Florida on Thursday.
Oklahoma got the scoring started right away as Jocelyn Alo singled and knocked in two in the first. Shay Knighten had an RBI single to make it 3-0 before Oklahoma State had a chance to hit.
Oklahoma State cut its deficit to 3-1 on an RBI single by Michaela Richbourg in the first, but Oklahoma scored three times on walks with the bases loaded in the sixth to build a comfortable lead.
At a glance
NCAA DIVISION I SOFTBALL WORLD SERIES
At ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Oklahoma City
Double elimination
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Arizona 3, Washington 1 (8)
UCLA 7, Minnesota 2
Oklahoma State 2, Florida 1
Oklahoma 3, Alabama 2
FRIDAY’S GAMES
GAME 5 UCLA 6, Arizona 2
GAME 6 Oklahoma 6, Oklahoma State 1 TODAY’S GAMES
All times Central
GAME 7 Washington (50-8) vs. Minne-sota (46-13), 11 a.m.
GAME 8 Florida (49-17) vs. Alabama (57-9), 1:30 p.m.
GAME 9 Oklahoma State (45-16) vs. Game 7 winner, 6 p.m.
GAME 10 Arizona (48-13) vs. Game 8 winner, 8:30 p.m.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
GAME 11 UCLA (53-6) vs. Game 9 win-ner, noon
GAME 12 Oklahoma (56-3) vs. Game 10 winner, 2:30 p.m.
x-GAME 13 UCLA vs. Game 9 winner, 6 p.m.
x-GAME 14 Oklahoma vs. Game 10 win-ner, 8:30 p.m.
NOTE If only one game is necessary, it will be played at 6 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
(Best-of-3)
MONDAY’S GAME
Teams TBD, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY’S GAME
Teams TBD, 7:30 p.m.
x-WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Teams TBD, 7:30 p.m.
At a glance
ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Oklahoma City
FRIDAY’S GAMES
UCLA 6, Arizona 2
Oklahoma 6, Oklahoma State 1
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Washington vs. Minnesota, 11 a.m.
Florida vs. Alabama, 1:30 p.m.
Okla. St. vs. Wash.-Minn. winner, 6 p.m.
Arizona vs. Fla.-Ala. winner, 8:30 p.m.
Sports on 06/01/2019