LOS ANGELES — Megan Langenfeld’s bat and right arm proved to be the X-factor for the UCLA softball team Friday afternoon at Easton Stadium.
The Bruins’ starting pitcher needed 158 pitches to hold off Long Beach State, 4-2, in the Los Angeles Regional opener for both teams. The No. 2-seeded Bruins advanced into the winner’s bracket while the 49ers are on the brink of elimination.
“She’s very resilient,” UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “One thing I can always rely on, Megan gets stronger when the pressure gets bigger.”
Langenfeld — who was injured when the 49ers (34-20) defeated the Bruins (42-9) in early March — allowed two runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out seven in a complete-game effort.
The ‘Niner offense made sure she earned it, fouling off numerous pitches to force several at-bats into marathon battles.
“We wanted to come in here and compete and have the confidence in ourselves. I feel our team did that,” LBSU head coach Kim Sowder said. “We did have a lot of great at-bats.
“Megan Langenfeld is a great pitcher … we certainly made her throw a lot of pitches. If we see [UCLA] again, we just need to find a way to win those at-bats.”
Langenfeld (15-1) was able to quiet the bat of 49er slugger Jennifer Griffin, who was the Big West Conference’s co-Field Player of the Year and an All-West Region selection. Griffin went 0-for-2 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts.
“She got the best of me today,” Griffin said. “I started swinging at pitches instead of sitting back and waiting for something [more over the plate].”
Also, UCLA’s defense picked Langenfeld up when the time called.
With a runner on in the LBSU fifth and the score tied at 2, Ashley Levine blooped a two-out single to center but Ashley Weber was thrown out trying to advance to third by UCLA’s Katie Schroeder.
“Defense was big for us today, too,” Inouye-Perez said. “When they tried to take advantage and advance to third, that was a huge play.”
Schroeder then ignited the Bruins’ offense in the bottom half of the frame. The 5-foot-10 sophomore dropped a bunt single to start the inning.
After a sacrifice bunt moved Schroeder to second, Langenfeld showed off her bat with an RBI double to the gap in left-center field — her second hit of the contest — to put the Bruins ahead, 3-2.
On the pitch before the go-ahead hit, however, the LBSU coaching staff and players thought starting pitcher Brooke Turner struck out Langenfeld looking with a change-up on the outside corner but home plate umpire Patty Constantindis called it a ball.
Turner (17-12) calmly dismissed any notion that the non-call bothered her, simply saying, “No, not really.”
The sophomore went six innings, allowed four runs — three earned — on six hits, walked one and struck out five in the losing effort.
“Brooke pitched well enough to win this ballgame,” Sowder said.
On a 2-0 pitch, third baseman Julie Burney gave the Bruins an insurance run in the sixth with a home run off the scoreboard in left to push the lead to 4-2.
“[Turner] threw me two balls in a row so I knew that was a hitter’s count,” said Burney, who finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. “So I knew she had to bring it somewhere close over the plate and I was just ready for it.”
Trailing 2-0 after two innings, the 49ers bounced back with a pair of runs in the third.
LBSU junior Jodi Nakawatase led off the frame with a first-pitch single she dumped into center field. After a strikeout, Danielle Linke doubled to the wall in left and Weber slapped an RBI single through the hole at short to cut the UCLA lead to 2-1.
Jonae Perez tied the score at 2 and brought home Linke on a single past Burney, who grazed the ball with her glove but couldn’t knock it down.
Langenfeld allowed a single to Levine to load the bases, but designated player Brandy Reyes struck out looking to end the threat.
“We didn’t play perfect softball today but we certainly battled back,” Sowder said.
UCLA shortstop Monica Harrison put the Bruins ahead, 2-0, in the second inning with a two-out, RBI double off the wall in right field. The play scored Burney, who reached base on a single.
Turner fired her second wild pitch of the contest to put Burney on second.
Bruins left fielder Andrea Harrison plated UCLA’s first run in the bottom of the first with the help of a wild pitch and a chopper misplayed by Perez at first base.
The Fresno State Bulldogs defeated the UNLV Rebels, 2-1, earlier in the day and will face UCLA Saturday at 1 p.m. The Rebels will play the 49ers later in the day at 3:30 p.m. in an elimination game.
Freshman sensation and Big West first-team selection Taylor Petty is expected to be in the pitcher’s circle for LBSU, which will need to run the table and win four straight games to advance to the Super Regionals.
The loser of Fresno State-UCLA will take on the winner of UNLV-LBSU at 6 p.m. in another elimination game.
Game notes
In the fourth inning, catcher Kristen Pocock fouled an 0-2 pitch off her face, left the game and was sent to the hospital for X-rays. She will receive stitches on two spots on her nose, which might be broken, head coach Kim Sowder said.
Defensively, designated player Brandy Reyes finished the game behind the plate.
Alisha Rosen came in to pinch-hit and grounded out. To leadoff the seventh and final inning, Rosen battled Megan Langenfeld in a 20-pitch at-bat before grounding out to short. It was the third at-bat Langenfeld needed 16 pitches or more to get through.