LOS ANGELES — Freshman Lexi Sosa pitched the 18th perfect game in UCLA softball history in Saturday's opener, a 10-0, five-inning victory over Boston University, while sophomore Megan Faraimo continued her dominance with a two-hit shutout of No. 18 Minnesota in a 4-0 win at Easton Stadium.
In Game 1 against Boston U. (12-7), Sosa (4-0) retired all 15 batters she faced, striking out six (one in the first and second, three in the third and one in the fifth). It was the first UCLA perfect game since Donna Kerr pitched one against St. Peter's on March 2, 2008. Kerr just so happened to be in the stands, as the 2010 national championship team was honored prior to the game. It was also the 113th no-hitter in UCLA history and the first of Sosa's career.
The stars were aligned for tonight's perfect game by Lexi Sosa, the 18th in Bruin history.
— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) March 8, 2020
The last one before tonight? Donna Kerr, in 2008, who was in attendance tonight.#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/rQnRSpTZsg
The Bruins (23-1) scored in all four of their trips to the plate, recording 11 hits from eight different players. In addition to her pitching prowess, Sosa had two hits and four RBIs. Freshman Sara Rusconi Vicinanza added two hits and three RBIs, while freshman Maya Brady posted two hits and three runs.
In the first, Brady doubled with two outs and came home on a two-bagger from redshirt junior Aaliyah Jordan. In the second, Sosa connected on her first career homer to leadoff the inning, a shot to center.
UCLA tacked on five more in the third. Brady singled with one out and moved to second on a ground out by Jordan. After a walk to junior Delanie Wisz and a wild pitch to move both runners up, Sosa singled to left-center to score Brady and Wisz to make it 4-0. Following a walk to freshman Seneca Curo, Rusconi Vicinanza left the yard to center, her third homer of the year, to increase the lead to 7-0.
The Bruins scored three times in the fourth. Junior Briana Perez led off with a bunt single and then stole second and third. After a free pass to Brady, UCLA tried the "corners" play, with Brady taking off for second and trying to get into a rundown long enough to get Perez home. It worked to perfection, as Brady forced a bad throw by the Terriers, allowing Perez to score the Bruins' eighth run. Brady then advanced to third when Jordan reached on a walk. With freshman Taylor Edwards now on first, she got into the same type of rundown long enough for Brady to score to make it 9-0. Wisz followed with a triple to left-center, and was pinch-run for by sophomore Anna Vines, who scored on an RBI grounder to short off the bat of Sosa to get the Bruins to double figures.
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In Game 2 against Minnesota (14-9), Faraimo (13-1) registered another double-figure strikeout game, fanning 13 in seven innings. She limited the Golden Gophers to two hits and one walk. Faraimo had 1-2-3 innings in the second, third, fifth and sixth, striking out the side in the third and two apiece in the first, fourth, fifth and seventh. Offensively, the Bruins (24-1) had four hits from four different players.
The only runs of the game came on one swing of the bat in the fourth. Junior Kinsley Washington and Perez led off with consecutive infield singles, and one out later, Jordan reached on an error to load the bases for Wisz, who lifted a grand slam to left-center for her fifth homer of the season.
The Bruins conclude the weekend on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. against Cal Poly. The game will feature free live audio on UCLABruins.com.
