Kelly Inouye-Perez provides update amid UCLA's World Series opener against Alabama

UCLA finds themselves up 1-0 early in their first game of the College World Series against Alabama after both teams had to adjust on the fly to a new game time following a rain delay in Oklahoma City.

True freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Terry got the start in the circle for the Bruins and heads into the fifth inning with a shutout performance. Allowing just four hits so far on the day along with three strikeouts.

During the fourth inning, ESPN’s Holly Rowe spoke with UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. Asking the four time Pac-12 Coach of the Year about the confidence and composure she’s seen from her young player in her first-ever appearance on a stage like the Women’s College Wold Series.

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“I don’t know he would use the words, I don’t know, but I think in my mind she’s battling,” Inouye-Perez said. “She’s played the game for a long time, I love if you would have seen her before the game. She’s just ready to play softball.”

“But we’ve got to settle in, there’s a couple of pitches that I think she can take back. But that’s one of the things that she does well, she gets stronger through the game.”

UCLA enters the World Series with a historically low amount of pitchers with postseason experience, entering the tournament with zero pitchers without World Series experience for the first time since 1988. But so far so good for the Bruins as they look to also generate some offense after generating just one run in the game versus Alabama ace Kayla Beaver.

“I mean what they’re saying is we’re just not swinging strikes, you know? So we’re a little excited, we’re ready to play, there’s there’s some nerves,” Inouye-Perez admitted. “So the goal is we got to try to settle and try to get barrel behind the ball. But I think a big part of that is we gotta do a better job of swinging strikes.”

Inouye-Perez put the ball in the hands of sophomore pitcher Taylor Tinsley after Terry gave up a single to start the fifth inning. Which led to Kenleigh Cahalan hitting an RBI single to tie the game up at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth. Adding some more intrigue to what could be an exciting finish in Oklahoma City to start the Women’s College World Series.