Alabama Softball Star Gets Stitch, Crushes Game-Winning Homer Against UCLA at WCWS

Not even a busted lip to stop the Alabama Crimson Tide from rolling over the UCLA Bruins 6-3 on Thursday evening at the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.

In a freak play in the third inning, Alabama first baseman Brooke Wells collided with catcher Marlie Giles on a foul ball. Giles made the out, but Wells was left with a bloody lip.

Wells was stitched up while standing in the middle of the infield and returned to her position.

"Honestly, I think with all the adrenaline going through me, I really didn't feel much," Wells said.

Three innings later, Wells launched a three-run home run to centerfield. Her 24th of the season.

"Knowing that the coaches have my back, the girls have my back, it was easy to come into today and be like it's a whole new start," Wells said. "It's the World Series. This is what you dream of as a little kid. It's just a whole new day."

BROOKE WELLS WITH THE 3-RUN BOMB 💣#WCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @AlabamaSB pic.twitter.com/9V6DJRgGrF
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 29, 2026

For Wells, the moment was much needed. After going 0-for-8 in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional against LSU, head coach Patrick Murphy placed a card in her locker and encouraged her to have a short-term memory.

With a 2-for-4 debut at the WCWS, the transfer from Houston inched closer to the program single-season record of 26.

"It definitely helped me just kind of keep my shoulders up," said Wells. "It's hard having such a rough weekend as I did last weekend."

Jena Young was 3-for-3 with a walk and scored three of Alabama's six runs, and Audrey Vandagriff contributed with two hits. Alexis Pupillo also homered and drove in two runs.

Pupillo with the POWER 💪 TIE BALL GAME #WCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @AlabamaSB pic.twitter.com/PtZCu0wOF6
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 29, 2026

Jocelyn Briski pitched a complete game for the Tide and struck out nine. She allowed three earned runs on six hits and one hit-by-pitch.

"I thought Briski did an incredible job of pitching through a little adversity, then stopping it," said Murphy after the game. "They scored one run with two hits. We knew they were going to get some hits, okay? They have over 200 home runs now. That's like four a game.

"She limited the damage. She did not walk anybody. Then the other key stat for me was no errors on our defense. I thought it was a really well-played game, gritty by our offense. I felt like we were just missing a couple early in the game, then Brooke connected and so did Pupillo."

Alabama took a one-run lead in the first before UCLA bounced back with a two-run home run from Rylee Slimp and a solo shot from Megan Grant.

MEGAN GRANT HITS HOME RUN NO. 41 OF THE SEASON‼️

Grant puts UCLA up in the WCWS and ties Stacey Nuveman for the UCLA record with her 90th career home run 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9tMtqUnkOd
— espnW (@espnW) May 28, 2026

Grant's home run was the 90th of her career and tied Stacey Nuveman-Deniz's program record.

"Everyone expects it from her when you're watching her play," UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said of Grant. "The cool thing was Stacey and her entire family came to the game last weekend at Supers just to be there.

"I called her, and I said, You need to be here. Not to watch her break your record or tie your record, whatever, but it's more so I wanted her to get the recognition for what she did. She was such a big-time hitter during her time.

"She kind of laughed and was like, Thanks, Kelly, but I don't know, and then she showed up. For players that can do historic things, to do things that people dream of, that doesn't happen. It's very rare. There's a lot of pressure on those athletes because people expect for them to do it all the time.

"For Megan to get another home run here at the World Series and do what she does, she's in Disneyland when it comes to the memories of what she's done here on this big stage."

Taylor Tinsley was handed the loss. She allowed six earned runs on 10 hits, two walks, a hit-by-pitch and five strikeouts.

UCLA will fight to extend its season another day against Arkansas on Friday at 8:30 p.m. CT. Alabama advances in the winner's bracket and will play Nebraska on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. Both games will be on ESPN.

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