Texas beats UCLA 7-2 to open Women’s College World Series

The Texas Longhorns turned in a dominant performance against the UCLA Bruins on Thursday at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, advancing in the winner’s bracket with a 7-2 victory.

Pitcher Hailey Dolcini continued her impressive postseason run in the circle with a complete game, allowing two runs on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks. In the batter’s box, Texas mashed 13 hits off three UCLA pitchers, driving Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Megan Faraimo from the game in the third inning. Third baseman Mia Scott led the Longhorns with four hits, including a double and a triple, and catcher Mary Iakopo and center fielder Bella Dayton both added home runs.

Faraimo was able to get through the first two innings without allowing any runs after escaping a jam with runners on second and third with two outs in the first inning. Texas broke through in the third inning as Dayton singled to lead off and the lineup turned over. Scott tripled to center to drive in the game’s first run, shortstop Alyssa Washington singled to left, scoring Scott, and Iakopo followed with her 50th career home run to make it 4-0, chasing Faraimo.

In the fourth inning, a double to center by Scott drive in second baseman Janae Jefferson, who had singled to center. The final two runs for the Horns came in the sixth on the two-run home run by Dayton.

UCLA hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning, the only runs allowed by Dolcini on the day, but the Fresno State transfer retired five of the final six batters she faced to ensure there wasn’t any significant drama at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium over the final outs.

The win earns Texas a day off on Friday to set up a Saturday matchup at 2 p.m. Central on ABC against the winner of the Northwestern and Oklahoma game. Back in April, the Longhorns ended a 40-game winning streak by the Sooners with a 4-2 victory, the first win by Texas over OU since 2014.