UCLA beats Florida 8-0 in 6 innings to WCWS semifinals

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Holly Azevedo threw a two-hit shutout and No. 5 UCLA beat No. 14 Florida 8-0 in six innings Sunday to reach the Women’s College World Series semifinals and eliminate the Gators.

Azevedo (21-2) threw just 88 pitches and walked one. Kelli Godin, Maya Brady and Briana Perez each had two hits for the Bruins.

UCLA (50-9) will play No. 1 seed Oklahoma in the semifinals Monday and will have to beat the defending champion Sooners twice to reach the best-of-three championship series. The teams met in the championship series in 2019, with UCLA winning both games to claim the title.

Florida (49-19) won its opener Thursday against Oregon State, but the Gators did not score in a loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday or against UCLA.

Elizabeth Hightower (17-9) got the loss for the Gators after giving up two runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings. Florida was the only Southeastern Conference team in the World Series field.

UCLA opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Godin singled to score Savannah Pola.

UCLA looked like it might add some runs in the third. With one on and two outs, Alyssa Garcia lifted one deep to left field. Florida’s Katie Kistler leaped up against the wall and snagged it above the fence to end the inning.

The Bruins had runners on the corners with one out in the fourth when Florida shortstop Skylar Wallace — a second-team NFCA All-American — committed an error on a ground ball that allowed Pola to score.

Wallace failed to come up with another ground ball later in the inning. Briana Perez’s contact was ruled a single, and two runs scored to make it 4-0.

A single by Brady in the sixth knocked in two runs and gave UCLA a 6-0 lead. Pola then singled and scored two more to end the game.

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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: twitter.com/CliffBruntAP

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More AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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