Notre Dame softball: UCLA blanks Irish in tourney
National No. 3 seed UCLA capitalized on a five-run bottom of the third inning and a solid pitching effort from Pac-12 Player of the Year Ally Carda to post a 7-0 victory over Notre Dame Saturday at UCLA’s Easton Stadium in the NCAA Tournament Los Angeles regional.
The host Bruins (50-6) put the game away in the third as designated player Jessica Hall connected on a grand slam over the center field fence, pushing the UCLA lead to 6-0.
Emilee Koerner had two hits for the Irish (40-12), which went on to pound Long Beach State in the evening elimination game.
In that game, Koerner went 4-for-5 with three doubles, five RBIs and three runs scored.
The Irish will face UCLA on Sunday, needing to win twice to advance out of the Los Angeles Regional.
| Notre Dame | 000 | 000 | 0 — 0 3 1 |
| UCLA | 015 | 001 | x — 7 7 0 |
Ally Carda (W, 30-4), Jessica Hall (6); Laura Winter (L, 28-6), Rachel Nasland (4).
2B: Koerner (ND).
HR: Gabrielle Maurice (UCLA), Hall (UCLA).