Softball On SI

Unlikely Hero Hits Walk-Off Homer to Lift UCLA Over Oregon in WCWS Thriller

Katie Burkhart-Gooch|
UCLA catcher Alexis Ramirez (28) runs home after hitting a home run in the fourth inning during a softball game between UCLA and Oregon at the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
UCLA catcher Alexis Ramirez (28) runs home after hitting a home run in the fourth inning during a softball game between UCLA and Oregon at the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, on Thursday, May 29, 2025. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In a tense WCWS showdown between UCLA and Oregon, it was freshman Kaitlyn Terry who set the tone from pitch one and senior Jessica Clements who ended it.

Terry didn’t just throw; she dictated.

Oregon hitters were chasing pitches off the plate, rolling over balls they couldn’t square up, and finding themselves in early 0-2 holes before they even had a chance to breathe.

Clements took advantage of her opportunity in the bottom of the seventh that walked the Bruins off the field well after midnight local time.

Kaylynn Jones legged out an infield single to lead things off, showing off her wheels. A sac bunt moved her to second, a groundout pushed her to third, and Kedre Luschar came through with a sharp RBI single through the right side. Just like that, Ducks were on the board and up 1-0. Even after it got weird with two power outages at Devon Park.

In true postseason fashion, things got stranger as the game progressed. After the UCLA third-inning dance party, Bruin Magic was in the air.

UCLA took a 2-1 lead after Alexis Ramirez went yard in the fourth with a no-doubt, two-run blast that had the dugout bouncing. It looked like the Bruins were going to ride Terry’s arm all the way to the finish line. Then the seventh inning happened.

With Oregon threatening, a bizarre obstruction call with Oregon’s Paige Sinicki and UCLA catcher’s Alexis Ramirez opened the door. Coach Lombardi took her last call and got lucky, and just like that, it was tied 2-2, on a reversed call for obstruction. You could feel the shift in momentum – and the tension - like a gut punch in the dugout.

UCLA didn’t blink.

In the bottom half, Clements stepped in and silenced any doubt. She unloaded on a pitch and sent it sailing for a two-run bomb that turned Devon Park into a frenzy.

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Katie Burkhart-Gooch
KATIE BURKHART-GOOCH

Katie Burkhart is a former professional softball pitcher and Arizona State University alumna, where she was a three-time All-American and led the Sun Devils to a national championship. She played professionally in the U.S., Japan, and Italy, and has coached at the Division I level. She now provides private pitching instruction and mindset training for athletes of all levels. Katie is also the author of Mental Muscle and Beyond the Game, books focused on athletic performance and life after sports.

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