#1 Bruins Blank ‘Bows, 7-0; Play Georgia State and St. Mary’s This Afternoon

Let’s play two!

Today, the Bruin softball team will play a doubleheader against the Georgia State Panthers and the St. Mary’s Gaels on day three of the Hawai’i Paradise Classic.

Last Time Out

Last night, the Bruins played a night game against the Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine. Rachel Garcia looked to be in midseason form already as she gave up just one hitand one walk while striking out 15 as UCLA shutout Hawai’i, 7-0. At one point, Garcia actually struck out seven batters in a row.

She started that streak off with two outs in the bottom of the first inning when she struck out Hawai’i catcher Callee Heen swinging to end the inning. In the bottom of the second, she struck out the side and, then, she did it again in the third. The streak ended in the bottom of the fourth when Nicole Lopez got the only hit of the game for the Rainbow Wahine.

Meanwhile, the Bruins scored two in the second when Aaliyah Jordan hit a two-run homer to right that also scored Taylor Pack.

Pack scored again in the fourth inning on a fielding error that also allowed Jordan to reach base. Freshman catch Colleen Sullivan then homered to left-center and the Bruins took a 5-0 lead.

Garcia helped her own cause in the sixth when she singled home Briana Perez for an insurance run and Perez scored again in the seventh when Bubba Nickles reached on an error. Those late runs gave the Bruins a 7-0 win.

Georgia Southern Panthers

So far this weekend, the Panthers have lost all three of the games they’ve played. They dropped the opener to St. Mary’s, 7-5. Then, they lost to Hawai’i, 8-0 and they followed that up with a 10-1 loss to Fresno State yesterday.

St. Mary’s Gaels

Meanwhile, the Gaels’ only win came at Georgia State’s expense on Thursday. Yesterday, St. Mary’s lost both games of their doubleheader to Fresno State, 4-3, and to UT Arlington, 8-0.

Outlook

Today’s outlook shouldn’t be in doubt. In fact, really the only question heading into today’s twinbill is: Can the Bruins shorten either of these two games with the run rule?

I think they’ll be able to do it for sure against Georgia State and it’s possible, but less likely against St. Mary’s.

This is your Hawai’i Paradise Classic open thread.


Go Bruins!!!