OKLAHOMA CITY — UCLA’s flair for the dramatic returned on Sunday.
Down to their last out in a WCWS elimination game against Tennessee, the Bruins got another massive home run from first baseman Megan Grant.
Her two-run blast tied the game, but in the heat of the home run celebrations, Grant forgot to touch the plate.
She was directed by a teammate to step back onto the field and touch home, which was pointed out to the umpires by Tennessee coach Karen Weekly.
After a nearly 15-minute video replay review, it was deemed that Grant did miss the base and that she only returned to touch home after an assist from a teammate, but according to Appendix G of the NCAA rulebook, that is not a reviewable portion of the play.
The call on the field stood, sending the game into the bottom of the seventh tied 4-4.
“It was just kind of a blackout moment,” Grant said. “I know going into that at 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.”
But the Bruins still had to win the game.
UCLA turned a double play to send the game to extra innings after Taylor Pannell narrowly missed a walk-off home run foul.
Pannell almost went yard again to start the ninth when she doubled off the top of the wall. The Bruins intentionally walked Tennessee power hitter Sophia Nugent, then Taylor Tinsley issued another walk to load the bases.
Shortstop Laura Mealer singled through the left side, and Tennessee held on to win 5-4 at Devon Park on Sunday.
The 7-seeded Volunteers (47-16) advanced to Monday’s semifinal against the 6-seeded Texas Longhorns, who upended the 2-seeded Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, while the 9-seeded Bruins finished 2025 at 55-13.
“I want to congratulate Tennessee. Just a great battle to the end, and wish them the best of luck moving forward,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said after the game. “For us, though, I could not be more proud. Period. Just the ability for us to be able to fight. The ability for us to come back. The epic “just down to the last pitch.”
“There’s something about what UCLA softball can do with your backs against the wall and rise to the occasion to create amazing memories.”
Inouye-Perez said the delay was something she’s “never experienced,” but she was proud of the way her team delivered in the top of the seventh and then got refocused in extra innings.
“The ability to come together and say that we have this opportunity to win this game, that’s something we call Bruin magic,” she said. “Came together, got the energy in the dugout. So those kind of moments are things that we live for at UCLA.
“… We implemented instant review, and it’s part of the game now… Delays are part of it, and the goal is to make sure they don’t leave any stone unturned.”
Until the seventh inning heroics, the Bruins struggled to convert baserunners into runs against Pickens.
UCLA put two aboard in the first inning, but a mental mistake after an infield fly ended the inning.
Jessica Clements, who walked off Oregon in the Bruins’ WCWS opener, thought she had to race to third base after Mealer dropped the infield fly.
The Volunteers threw over to try and gun down Clements, even though there was no longer a force out at the bag. But Clements thought she was out. As she headed back to UCLA’s dugout, she was officially called out for leaving the field of play, which ended the inning.
Before her seventh-inning bomb, Grant had a chance in the fifth with two on and two outs, but Weekly intentionally walked the first baseman to pitch to Alexis Ramirez. Pickens needed just four pitches to end the threat with a strikeout.
“I love that we were in that situation,” Inouye-Perez said. “We’re facing some of the best arms… We hit them well. So it’s the game. I wish they could have all been perfect and score 20 runs, but to get runners in scoring position is the name of the game.
“Quality at-bats puts you in that position, and everybody wants to come through in those big moments.”
Mealer was involved again in the bottom of the first. She put Tennessee on top with a two-out, two-RBI single.
UCLA immediately struck back with a pair of solo home runs by Ramirez and Sofia Mujica off Pickens in the second to tie the game up at 2-2.
Pannell did take Kaitlyn Terry deep in the fifth inning. She turned on the first offering from the Bruin starter, which gave the Volunteers a 4-2 lead.
The seventh inning dragged on due to the controversial review, but both pitchers did well to settle back in after the disruption.
Tinsley, who took over in the circle for UCLA in the sixth, worked around a pair of walks to get out of the seventh, and she stranded a pair of Volunteers in the eighth.
Pickens induced a ground ball by Ramirez with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth to give her offense one last bite at the apple.
The Bruins tallied 11 hits off Pickens, but she was able to total seven strikeouts on 148 pitches in the win.
“This team came back and fought against a great opponent,” Inouye-Perez said. “And I told them, you’re going to be remembered for your fight. Nobody wants to play this team to be able to get that outcome because we have that ability to score and come back and do pretty crazy things at the end of the ball game. And to me, that’s what makes me so proud.”
