Second-seeded UCLA ends Gophers softball team's season with 2-1 victory to win NCAA regional

LOS ANGELES – The Gophers got a jolt from a surprising source during Sunday's softball game against UCLA. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't add on from there, and in the end it wasn't quite enough against the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Bruins scored two fourth-inning runs to overcome Megan Dray's home run, and they went on to beat the Gophers 2-1 to win the Los Angeles regional.

"I'm proud of this team and I thought they showed to the very end," Gophers coach Piper Ritter said. "They faced a great-hitting and great-pitching team in UCLA and didn't back down."

Dray entered the game hitting .186 with one home run and six RBI this season for the Gophers (31-13), who needed to win twice Saturday at Easton Stadium and then needed to beat UCLA twice more Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals.

Dray homered leading off the second inning off Bruins starting pitcher Megan Faraimo to give her team a 1-0 lead.

Emily Hansen followed with a one-out double, and with two outs Syndey Strelow was hit by a pitch. Bruins ace Rachel Garcia replaced Faraimo and loaded the bases by hitting Carlie Brandt, but she escaped the jam by striking out MaKenna Partain.

And the Gophers managed only one other hit from there against Garcia. Meanwhile, in the fourth inning, UCLA (44-4) — the 2019 NCAA champion — took the lead on a one-out single by Garcia, a two-out double by Maya Brady and a single up the middle from Washington to score both runners.

The Gophers still had a couple of chances after that. They put two on with two outs in the fifth inning on a single and an error, but Garcia struck out Natalie DenHartog with runners at the corners.

In the seventh inning, pinch hitter Chloe Evans reached second on a two-base error, but Delanie Cox struck out and Partain flied out to left to end the Gophers' season.

Partain is one of five fifth-year seniors who returned to the Gophers in a bid to make another trip to the College World Series.

"They meant a lot to me just because they stayed around," Ritter said. "They've gone through a lot of coaching changes, so their dedication to this program speaks volumes. … I think that our team stayed together and bonded the way they did because of the fifth-year seniors."