Megan Grant sets UCLA record with 91st career HR in WCWS rout of Ark.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Megan Grant broke the UCLA career home run record and all nine Bruins in the lineup scored in the second inning of an 11-0 run-rule victory over Arkansas in Friday’s elimination game at the Women’s College World Series.
UCLA will face the loser of Saturday’s game between Tennessee and Texas Tech in another elimination game Sunday.
The Bruins kept their season alive by putting the Razorbacks away early with an offensive explosion in the defining second inning.
Aleena Garcia ignited the scoring barrage with a solo shot to center. Soo-Jin Berry followed that up with an opposite field, three-run homer to left.
Grant then launched the 91st of her career with a three-run bomb to the left-centerfield gap, propelling her past Stacey Nuveman (1998-2002) for the most home runs in UCLA history.
“It’s like a dream honestly,” said Grant, who now has 42 homers on the season, extending her own NCAA record. “I’m just incredibly honored. Stacey Nuveman was a powerhouse. To be able to say my name is next to hers, I’m truly grateful for it.”
Kaniya Bragg nearly hit a fourth home run in the inning. But the ball hit the top of the right-field wall and was ruled to be a ground-rule double instead.
Only Florida scored more runs in an inning at the WCWS with 11 in 2011.
The Bruins twice had scored nine runs in an inning before at the WCWS, in 1992 and 2010.
“Hitting is contagious,” said UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “We’re contagious, and that’s when we’re at our best.”
The eighth-seeded Bruins dropped their WCWS opener to No. 1 Alabama on Thursday despite another Grant home run.
The Razorbacks, making their first ever WCWS appearance, lost in 10 innings to Nebraska on Thursday.
UCLA now has an NCAA-record 206 homers this season.
“Whenever you’re not at your best, they’re going to expose you,” said Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel. “They exposed us tonight.”
