Andrea Duran went 2-for-4 including a triple and home run as UCLA eliminated Alabama with 4-1 win Saturday afternoon in front of 5,395 at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Andrea Duran got started early as she led off the game with her sixth triple of the year and second in as many WCWS games. Krista Colburn followed immediately with a single up the middle that scored Duran to give the Bruins (49-8) the 1-0 lead.
“I was just trying to see the ball,” Duran said. “The two pitches I hit looked fat to me, and I just wanted to get the game started.”
Alabama (54-11) answered back in the bottom of the second. With two away in the inning, Dominique Accetturo tied the game with a solo blast out left field. The Crimson Tide loaded the bases off Selden, but she got Jordan Praytor to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.
“You have to take you hats off to UCLA. You can tell that they are a senior-laden team on the infield,” Alabama head coach Pat Murphy said. “We needed that one key hit, but we couldn’t get it to fall.”
After giving up a run, two hits and a pair of walks over the opening two innings, Selden settled in and allowed just three hits and a walk the rest of the way as she ran her record to 34-6 on the year. For the game, Selden allowed a run on six hits and struck out five.
“I thought we did a good job of setting the tone early,” UCLA head coach Sue Enquist said. “I was pleased with Anjelica’s performance. She got in a bind a couple of times and came out of it. She did a good job separating the little mistakes along the way.”
UCLA answered back the next half inning, as Duran followed her leadoff triple with a leadoff home run, her 14th of the season. Krista Colburn followed with a single that chased Bama starter Stephanie VanBrakle from the circle in favor of Chrissy Owens.
VanBrakle ended up taking the loss to fall to 28-6 on the season. She gave up three runs, two earned, on five hits in two innings. Owens went the final five frames, allowing a run on two hits with a strikeout.
Owens retired the first two hitters she faced and had the third out on a Jodie Legaspi ground ball, but an errant throw by Staci Ramsey allowed Colburn to score and extend the lead to 3-1.
Selden settled back in following the initial UA threat, retiring the next seven hitters she faced into the fifth. She ran into trouble in the frame, however, beginning with a leadoff single from Mandy Burford. Following a strikeout, Praytor walked and Ramsey loaded the bases with a single. Selden, however, got a pair of fielder’s-choice groundouts to end the threat.
UCLA gave Selden some added insurance in the top of the sixth as Lisa Dodd walked and advanced to second on Whitney Holum’s base hit. Pinch-hitter Kristen Dedmon moved Dodd to second with a fielder’s choice, and Tara Henry delivered a clutch two-out single that scored Dodd and gave the Bruins the final 4-1 margin.
The Bruins advance to face Texas later Saturday evening in a game set to begin at 8 p.m.
