UCF has no answers for UCLA's offense in Game 1 of Super Regional

UCF softball knew it faced an immense challenge against UCLA's explosive offense.

The Bruins lead the country in home runs and slugging percentage, with eight batters having at least 13 homers.

The power was once again on display as UCLA hit three home runs, cruising to a 9-1 run-rule win over UCF in the first game of the NCAA Super Regional at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday night.

UCLA ace Taylor Tinsley (31-6) held the Knights to just one run on three hits over five innings.

“This isn’t to take away from Tinsley, she’s an amazing pitcher and has got some great stuff, but we’ve got to go after her and attack her, just as their offense is doing to our pitchers,” said UCF coach Cindy Ball-Malone. “We may not have 100 and however many home runs, but this team can swing it, too. I felt like we were swinging passively and in order to slay a giant, you cannot do that.”

The Bruins are one win away from returning to the College World Series.

UCLA (51-8) jumped out first, thanks to the long ball. Freshman third baseman Bri Alejandre blasted a solo home run to center field off UCF starter Ava Stuewe (7-5) to lead off the second inning. It was her 23rd homer of the season and the Bruins' NCAA-best 194th of the season.

Tinsley was perfect through the first three innings, with the Bruins' ace facing just nine batters on 34 pitches.

UCF prepares for California Dreamin’ in NCAA softball Super Regional

UCF (41-18-1) broke through in the top of the fourth when shortstop Aubrey Evans smacked a lead-off double off the right field wall. It was Evans' 11th double of the season. After a popout by Kendall Yarnell, Evans advanced to third on a wild pitch. But Tinsley got back-to-back outs to end the threat.

The Bruins went back to work in the bottom of the fourth as Alejandre walked and second baseman Kaniya Bragg was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. Catcher Alexis Ramirez advanced the runners on a sacrifice bunt on Isabella Vega, who replaced Stuewe.

Soo-Jin Berry's groundout to second scored Alejandre and pitch hitter Ramsey Suarez's RBI double extended the UCLA lead to 3-0.

Sierra Humpreys' leadoff home run in the top of the fifth got the Knights on the scoreboard. It was the 14th homer of the season for the second baseman, who grew up in Corona, about an hour away from the UCLA campus.

“It was obviously a full circle moment,” said Humphreys. “It gave us a lot to play for because I’m not the only one from California. It gave us another reason and something bigger to play for at the end of the day. We were playing for each other and playing for something bigger than ourselves.”

UCLA stormed back in the bottom of the fifth after Alejandre and shortstop Aleena Garcia were both hit by pitches from Vega. Bragg followed with a 3-run home run to push the Bruins' lead to 6-1. It was Bragg's 18th homer of the season.

Berry singled and advanced to third on an error by Humphreys. That led Ball-Malone to lift Vega and replace her with Macy Miles, who walked Jolyna Lamar. Rylee Slimp followed with a 3-run home run to end the game.

The three UCF pitchers walked six and failed to strike out a Bruins batter.

“It’s tough to talk to them right after that, regardless of what everybody says, what you know or what’s on paper, they want to go after it, they want to play in the World Series too,” said Ball-Malone. “We’ve seen teams come back and win two games. It’s going to be a tall task, but I just want to see them fight, and if they do that and they believe in themselves and they stick to the plan and play one pitch at a time, anything can happen.”

This is the second time UCF has qualified for the Super Regionals, having faced top-ranked Oklahoma in 2022 in Norman, Okla. The Knights were swept by the Sooners, who would go on to win the National Championship.

UCF needs to win Game 2 on Saturday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN) to force a Game 3 on Sunday.

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel's Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.

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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 12:23 AM.