Jessica Clements was here before.
In April, when the UCLA center fielder hit a home run in the first game of the three-game series at Eugene against Oregon pitcher Elise Sokolsky.
Clements found herself in a similar position to the Thursday night that changed to the Friday morning of the Women’s College World Series. This time only, the Bruins were hoping to take a step closer to the 13th National Championship by defeating a 2-2 tie in their final at-bat.
“Yeah, this is all girls’ dreams,” Clements said after hitting a two-run homer from Sokolsky in seven innings before giving ninth seeded UCLA a 4-2 win over Devon Park winner Bracket.
“This is my dream as far as I can remember. I’m blessed to be here.”
Catcher Alexis Ramirez also hit a two-run homer to support Bruins starter Caitlyn Terry. UCLA (55-11) will play No. 12 Seed Texas Tech on Saturday at 4pm PDT at the semi-final spot. Oregon (53-9) faces unseeded Mississippi in Friday’s elimination game.
“Yeah, we knew it was going to be a great game,” UCLA coach Kelly Inoe Perez said. “They’re great competitors and great teams. But I love the way my team fought tonight. Things happen from the controls that actually make you irritate and you can talk to them from the game. And one of the things I’ve talked to the team is to eliminate the noise.
The Ducks tied their seventh game 2-2 with a call on a reversed home plate.
Oregon’s Page Sinicki doubled within the third-base line to lead the seventh, but the verdict was challenged by UCLA. Cole was supported, but the next batter, Dezianna Patmon, banded Sinicki in the third. Emma Cox followed the third baseman, Jordan Wooley, with a ground ball. The throw to Ramirez was on time and Sinicki was ruled out at home for a second out.
Oregon challenged the phone and it was overturned after showing blockage by Ramirez in a video review.
“Before owning the ball, the catcher’s left foot blocked part of the leading edge, which is why there is a hindrance,” video review director Cody Little said in a statement.
Oregon led 1-0 in four innings, with Ramirez hitting two pitches on the wall of the left field from starter Lindsay Grain giving UCLA a 2-1 lead. It was the first run the Bruins scored against Grain this season. The duck won two of three from UCLA in April.
After Woolly singled a single and Megan Grant walked to open the sixth, Grain was pulled in favor of Sokolsky, who retired the next two batters.
“I loved fighting throughout the game,” Oregon coach Melissa Lombardi said. “It was a dogfight. I thought Lindsay did a great job on the mound. Our defense was great. It was a complete pitcher duel.
“But I’m proud of these guys. How they came back, they gave me the opportunity to tie the game down and win the ball game.”
Lightning and rain resulted in a 75-minute delay, two short blackouts that followed within a minute, causing darkening of Devon Park in the first innings.
Oregon scored first with Terry in three innings. Kaylynn Jones singled, moved second in Katie Flannery’s bunt, and went third for Kai Luschar and scored on Kedre Luschar’s single.
The Bruins almost responded to half of the innings as Savannah Paula drove the pitch from a grain 220 feet from the base of the central field wall carried by Kedre Lucshan to finish the inning.
A graduate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Clements used her first at-bat against Sokolsky for her benefit.
“I was trying to follow the pitch one step at a time, one at a time, one at a time,” she said. “I had a good first hack, and it also started with the base runner on board and I was very honestly looking for the middle, looking for a good pitch I wanted to drive.
“And I got a payoff from it. I’m so blessed to be here and have the opportunity to get that bat, and it started with wearing a base runner.
