It was one of the roughest outings of Rachel Garcia’s career and perhaps her most gratifying.
The UCLA redshirt freshman set a career worst for hits given up and tied another for runs given up Thursday night at Easton Stadium and none of it mattered after she gutted out 232 pitches and sparked an improbable bases-empty, two-out rally during the Bruins’ 8-7 victory in 11 innings over Mississippi in an NCAA tournament softball super regional opener.
UCLA prevailed after Madeline Jelenicki, who had hit into a double play the previous inning, slapped a run-scoring single past first baseman Alyssa Gonzalez with two out to score Zoe Shaw from second base.