LAKEWOOD — In a pitcher’s duel where hits were hard to come by, sophomore starting pitcher Brooke Turner was nearly untouchable for the Long Beach State softball team.
The right-hander held the No. 3 UCLA Bruins hitless for 5 1/3 innings en route to a complete-game gem Sunday afternoon at Mayfair Park.
The 49ers upset the Bruins, 2-1, to snap their 18-game win streak in front of 777 fans at Lisa Fernandez Field.
“Against a big team like this, it’s a really good feeling,” Turner said. “The game plan was to go right after them and not lose the momentum.”
Turner (8-4) fanned five of the first six batters she faced, including striking out the side in the second. She went seven innings, allowed just two hits, an unearned run and struck out eight.
“We couldn’t ask for a bigger performance,” said LBSU head coach Kim Sowder, whose team was coming off back-to-back losses. “[Turner] hasn’t been feeling at the top of her game lately but that says a lot about Brooke Turner.”
LBSU (15-9), which has struggled with runners in scoring position the past four games and stranded eight runners in the contest, plated its runs without producing a hit in the third.
“We just had a big talk and we wanted to have fun,” Sowder said. “We’re a little uptight and trying to press [at the plate].”
The 49ers capitalized on three walks and a bases-loaded wild pitch by Bruins (23-3) starter Donna Kerr, who needed 39 pitches to get through the frame. First baseman Jonae Perez added a sacrifice fly to bring home pinch-runner Megan Denio and give the ‘Niners a 2-0 lead.
Kerr (12-3) needed 125 pitches to battle through six innings. The right-hander allowed four hits and two earned runs while striking out eight and walking five.
In the sixth inning, UCLA shortstop Monica Harrison blooped a one-out double over the outstretched arm of second baseman Jodi Nakawatase to break up Turner’s no-hitter.
With two outs, Harrison scored when Perez booted a sharp grounder off the bat of Katie Schroeder and Nakawatase fired an errant desperation throw.
With a runner on and nobody out in the seventh, the Bruins’ last chance was thwarted on a hot shot to first by Andrea Harrison that was snagged by Perez and turned into a double-play ball. Turner fanned Dani Yudin on her 113th pitch of the afternoon to end the game and send LBSU into celebration.
“I think we made a name for ourselves today,” Turner said.
The 49ers defeated Syracuse, 4-1, later in the evening behind Taylor Petty’s (7-1) career-high 10 strikeouts to close the Long Beach State Invitational.
The ‘Niners return to action Friday in the three-day National Invitational Softball Tournament in San Jose. LBSU will face host San Jose State at 11 a.m. and Vermont at 1 p.m. on the first day.
Way to go Brooke! solid outing.