UCLA claims college softball crown

OKLAHOMA CITY — With a patched-up finger at the conclusion of a injury-hampered season, Megan Langenfeld came up with two key swings that powered UCLA to another NCAA softball title.

Langenfeld homered for the third time in two games to set off a record-setting offensive show by UCLA in a 15-9 win against Tuesday night that clinched the program's 11th Women's College World Series championship.

Andrea Harrison hit the first grand slam in the World Series finals, and Julie Burney and Samantha Camuso also homered for the Bruins (50-11) as a matchup of college softball's two most successful programs turned into a home run derby.

Stacie Chambers went deep twice and Lini Koria hit a solo shot for Arizona (52-14) as the teams combined to set a World Series record with seven long balls in the game. Ten of the 29 previous World Series didn't have that many home runs during the entire event.

But in this new offensive era, the championship trophy is headed back to a familiar place.

"I was just a small part of it," Langenfeld said. "A bunch of little things add up to a big, great thing, and that's a national championship for UCLA."

It's the first title for UCLA since the program won back-to-back trophies in 2003-04, and the first won by fourth-year coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. She won three NCAA championships as a catcher for the Bruins between 1989 and 1992. A 12th title for the Bruins, won in 1995, was later vacated due to NCAA rules infractions.

Wearing black armbands with the initials of late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden and a school flag flying at half-staff in center field, the fifth-seeded Bruins batted around in the second and fifth innings while setting a championship-round record for scoring. Just days earlier, they set a World Series record by scoring 16 runs in their opening game.

The 24 runs scored in the game were five more than in any previous World Series game.

Langenfeld was unanimously voted the event's Most Outstanding Player after going 12 for 17 with four home runs and nine RBIs. She reached base in 18 of her 23 plate appearances, also drawing four walks and getting hit by a pitch twice.

The national player of the year finalist was the winning pitcher in UCLA's first three wins at the World Series and hit the winning home run in the eighth inning of UCLA's 6-5 victory against Arizona in Game 1 of the finals.