Flippen Slam Seals Series; No. 20 Utah Bests No. 10 UCLA, 7-2

Saturday, March 18

Los Angeles, Calif.

4:30 PM

University of Utah

20-4, 2-0

UCLA

21-7, 0-2

Utah

UCLA

Flippen Slam Seals Series; No. 20 Utah Bests No. 10 UCLA, 7-2

3/18/2017 6:49 PM | Softball

Box Score

Senior homers after Donovan silences Bruins

LOS ANGELES - Katie Donovan's dominance in the circle set the tone and Hannah Flippen's grand slam blew it wide open as No. 20 Utah Softball smashed No. 10 UCLA, 7-2.

"What a fun day to be a Ute," head coach Amy Hogue said. "This program has worked so hard to have the opportunity to do big things. What this team did today was a major accomplishment and they earned it because they have worked day in and day out since we joined the Pac-12."

Donovan improved to 11-4 on the season with a complete game performance. It was the second straight for the Utes against the Bruins in the series after Miranda Viramontes did the job on Friday evening. Donovan had a perfect game going with one out in the seventh and final inning before UCLA broke it up.

"Katie was phenomenal and our key hitters came up clutch after our table setters found their way on base," Hogue added. "We have a program that does a lot of little things that help us towards our big goals. Kelly {Martinez} battled back from an 0-2 count to get on base and wound up scoring to start the game. She battled back from another 0-2 count later in the game and winds up scoring on Hannah's grand slam."

Neither team could produce anything of merit until the fourth when Flippen doubled with one out. After a walk to Anissa Urtez,, Rachel Garcia got a strikeout and induced a popup to keep the Utes off the board.

With two down in the fifth, the Utes mounted a rally as Kelly Martinez struck out but reached via a wild pitch. After a walk to Delilah Pacheco, Alyssa Barrera singled to center to break the deadlock and put Utah in front. Then, after a walk to Flippen loaded the bases, Urtez laced a two-run single for a 3-0 lead.

In the seventh, Martinez singled to start it off and Pacheco drew a four-pitch walk. Barrera notched her second hit of the game with an infield single and loaded the bases for Flippen. The senior launched a drive that sailed well over the center-field fence to effectively seal the result.

Just like last night, the Bruins waited until the end of the game to get going. Brianna Tautalafua delivered a two-run single after the Bruins broke up Donovan's perfect game.

The finale between these top-20 teams is tomorrow at 5 p.m. PT. You can watch the game live on the Pac-12 Networks or stream it via pac-12.com/live.