OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Laura Mealer’s RBI single in the ninth inning gave Tennessee a 5-4 win over UCLA on Sunday that lifted the Volunteers into the Women’s College World Series semifinals and eliminated the Bruins.
The game nearly had a controversial finish.
UCLA’s Megan Grant hit a two-run blast with two outs in the top of the seventh inning that appeared to tie the score at 4-all. There was an umpire review to determine whether Grant touched home plate.
Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said Tennessee noticed that Grant’s teammates touched her and helped her back to home plate. Weekly believed that was illegal, which she thought would have turned Grant’s homer into the third out, so the Volunteers notified the umpires. Had Grant been called out, the game would have ended with Tennessee winning 4-2.
“I think everybody but four people (the umpires) saw the play at the plate,” Weekly said. “We saw in the dugout that she missed the plate, and then we saw that her teammates had kind of pushed her back. And by rule, that (home run) should have been nullified.”
After a nearly 15-minute delay, the home run ruling was upheld. The NCAA pool report after the game said assisting a runner is not reviewable. The report also said had it been reviewable, a warning would have been issued on a first offense, which would not have affected the score.
Grant said she didn’t remember much after the 251-foot blast.
“It was just kind of a blackout moment.” she said. “I know going into that bat I just wanted to keep my mind right, stay aggressive. And honestly, after the swing, I did blackout indeed. After the fact, I just kind of trusted God with everything. The tensions were high and everything, and that’s just where I just laid my pressure on.”
Even after giving up the homer, Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens recovered and went the distance for the win. The first-team National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American gave up four earned runs on 11 hits and struck out seven.
“Well, during that lengthy review/not review, we talked about if it comes back and it goes against us and we’re tied up, then we keep playing,” Weekly said. “So we just kept putting them in that mindset — I think prepare for the worst. And then if the best happens, great.”
Some of the Tennessee players were dancing near the circle during the review.
“No matter what the call was going to be, we’re flushing it and worrying about the next pitch,” Pickens said.
Taylor Pannell’s two-run homer put Tennessee up 4-2 in the fifth to help set up the dramatic ending. She had three hits.
UCLA’s Alexis Ramirez and Sofia Mujica hit solo homers and Jordan Woolery had four hits. The Bruins (55-13) were trying to become the first semifinalist from the Big Ten since Michigan in 2015.
Tennessee (47-16) will play Texas on Monday in the semifinals and will have the beat the Longhorns twice to advance to the best-of-three championship series. Texas will need to win just once to reach the championship series for the third time in four years.
Pickens threw 148 pitches, but Weekly said her ace will be ready to go against the Longhorns.
“This is an absolute stud in volleyball and basketball and softball and could be playing D1 in any sport. So I think that works in her favor. Tonight’s going to be all about recovery and hydration. There’s no tomorrow. So Karlyn’s going to be ready to come out tomorrow and fight for her team.”
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