OKLAHOMA CITY _ When pinch-runner Jacqui Prober slid into home, the UCLA softball team exploded from the dugout, forming a dogpile between second and third base.
The Bruins were national champions.
Kinsley Washington's two-out RBI single earned No. 2 UCLA (56-6) a 5-4 win over No. 1 Oklahoma (57-6) in the Women's College World Series on Tuesday night, sweeping the Sooners in two games in the championship series to win the national title. It was UCLA's 13th national championship, its 12th NCAA title _ the Bruins first since 2010. The win marked Kelly Inouye-Perez's 600th in her career as a head coach.
Bubba Nickles and Briana Perez started the first inning by hitting back-to-back home runs, giving UCLA the lead. Oklahoma's Sydney Romero and UCLA's Aaliyah Jordan exchanged solo home runs in the third inning. UCLA maintained a two-run lead but ended two of the first three innings with the bases loaded.
In the fourth inning the Sooners tied the score, behind an RBI single from Falepolima Aviu and Lynnsie Elam's RBI double. After getting three hits off of Rachel Garcia in the first three innings, Oklahoma got four in the fourth.
But an inning later Brianna Tautalafua drilled a solo home run to left field, reclaiming the lead for UCLA. Tautalafua was hitless in the postseason before hitting home runs in both games of the championship series.
The Bruins were one out away from clinching the national championship when Shay Knighten hammered a solo home run over the center-field fence.
For UCLA to win it all, it would need a walk-off hit. And Washington delivered.
