Softball On SI

Exclusive: How Taylor Tinsley and UCLA Softball Silenced Ohio State’s Offense

Taylor Tinsley led UCLA softball to a dominant win over Ohio State, handing the Buckeyes their first shutout of the season.
Maren Angus-Coombs|
UCLA softball's Taylor Tinsley delivers a pitch against Ohio State on April 5, 2025.
UCLA softball's Taylor Tinsley delivers a pitch against Ohio State on April 5, 2025. | UCLA Athletics

An explosive offense was expected when the Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to Los Angeles last weekend for a two-game series against the UCLA Bruins on Friday and Saturday.

At the time, the Buckeyes were ranked No. 16 and had scored in every game this season; plus, they led all of Division I in home runs, home runs per game, runs batted in, RBIs per game, and total runs.

Ohio State's high-octane offense has been rewriting program records at a blistering pace under first-year head coach Kirin Kumar until Taylor Tinsley handed the Buckeyes their first shutout of the season.

Tinsley took the ball for the Bruins on Saturday and snapped OSU's 14-game streak of multiple home runs. She was masterful in the circle and delivered a one-hit, complete-game shutout, allowing just three baserunners and striking out 10.

How did Tinsley and the Bruins do it?

It all began with the first game on Friday night. The Buckeyes jumped on the Bruins early with two solo home runs in the top of the first inning and hit another in the third. The Bruins pulled away with two grand slams, clinching the first game in five innings by a score of 14-6.

However, lessons were learned during the first game and allowed the UCLA coaching staff to tinker with the game plan ahead of Saturday's finale.

"We had a more detailed plan of execution," assistant coach Rob Schweyer told Softball On SI during a phone call on Wednesday. "We were gonna come out swinging, and they were gonna come out swinging; we had to just change the pace a little bit. I think that's what we found in game two was that if we change the pace, they were no longer in control of the tempo."

Tinsley executed one pitch at a time, mixing speeds and planes, keeping the Buckeyes off-balance and uncomfortable in the box.

"Taylor was just lights out, and God bless her," Schweyer added. "She spun the ball better the way Taylor Tinsley spins ball. It was one of the many great games she has thrown in the last two years, for sure. Her poise on the mound and her commitment to each pitch was poetic."

Tinsley retired the side in five of her seven innings. She also improved her record to 9-2 and dropped her earned run average on the season to 2.28.

Ohio State simply didn't have an answer for Tinsley. Taylor Cruse had the lone hit for the Buckeyes in the third inning, putting two runners on with one out. Tinsley got the next two batters to pop out to shortstop and third base.

UCLA returns home for a Big Ten Conference series against former Pac-12 rival Washington starting Friday at 6 p.m. (PT). The contest is available to stream on BigTenPlus.com (B1G+).

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.

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