The Rainbow Wahine will next play the winner of Washington-Arizona in an elimination game Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT (3:30 p.m. HT), which will be televised nationally on ESPN. UCLA will play a winners bracket game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CT (7:00 a.m. HT).
Alex Aguirre provided the only spark for the Rainbow Wahine (50-15) in the fourth inning. In an epic battle that featured 17 pitches, Aguirre homered just over the left field fence to cut the Bruin deficit to 4-2. Aguirre, who homered in Thursday's opener against Missouri, fouled off 14 straight pitches before sending the 1-2 pitch over the wall.
Jenna Rodriguez had two of UH's five hits and scored on Aguirre's home run.
With a mixture of screwballs and off-speed pitches, Langenfeld scattered five hits and struck out six. At the plate, she also had two hits, including a double.
The Bruins (47-11) jumped on top in the second inning off of UH starter
Stephanie Ricketts with a two-run shot by Samantha Camuso scoring Dani Yudin. UCLA tacked on another run after GiOnna DiSalvatore's RBI singe scored Julie Burney.
The Bruins added another run in the top of the fourth with a solo home run by Burney off of UH's
Kaia Parnaby, who entered the game in the second inning in relief of Ricketts.
The Rainbow Wahine finally got to Langenfeld in the fourth. After the first two batters were retired, Rodriguez ripped a shot off the left field wall for her second hit of the game. That brought up Aguirre, whose home run sent a loud roar from the sold-out crowd of 8,694, which set a NCAA tournament single session attendance record and was largest crowd to ever witness a UH softball game.
In the fifth, UCLA's Amanda Harrison cleared the center field fence giving the Bruins a 5-2 lead. For Harrison, the home run was her third of the World Series. The Bruins have now hit at least three home runs in each of their NCAA tournament games this season.
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