Liberty sophomore KC Machado hit a go-ahead single in the 7th, helping Liberty eliminated host, No. 2 UCLA, from the NCAA Los Angeles Regional, Saturday at Easton Stadium.

The Lady Flames (39-21) knocked out UCLA, who went 0-2 at this week’s Los Angeles Regional. Liberty advances to play Grand Canyon tonight, with the winner meeting San Diego State in tomorrow’s Regional final. Tonight’s winner would need to defeat SDSU twice tomorrow to advance to the Super Regional round.

UCLA (52-7) failed to make it out of its own hosted regional for the first time since 2012, when Hofstra defeated San Diego State in the Regional final.

Scoring Summary
UCLA – 1st INNING – Grant homers to left, 1-0
Liberty – 4th INNING – Roupe homers to left center, 1-1
Liberty – 7th INNING – Machado singles to left, Roupe scores.

Turning Point
– UCLA led off the bottom of the first with a homer by Megan Grant, but that was the only run the Bruins managed.

– Liberty tied the game at 1-1 on Roupe’s solo home run.

– With two outs in the top of the second and Roupe on second, pinch hitter Machado sent a single to left. Roupe raced home, with her headfirst slide beating the tag by catcher Alyssa Garcia. Upon review, the call was confirmed.

– Keeney tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning to wrap up the biggest win to date in program history.

Notable Numbers
– UCLA outhit Liberty 7-3, with the Bruins committing the game’s lone error. Both teams turned a double play. The Bruins left five runners on base while Liberty stranded three.

– Keeney (26-11) earned the win, allowing one run on seven hits, walking one and fanning two.

– Brooke Yanez (16-3) drew the loss, allowing two runs on three hits, walking two and striking out nine in 6 2/3 innings. Megan Faraimo pitched 1/3 of an inning.

– Roupe went 2-for-2 with a homer, one RBI and two runs scored. Machado went 1-for-1 with one RBI.

– Aaliyah Jordan batted 3-for-3 in her last game at UCLA, while Grant went 1-for-2 with a homer, one RBI and one run scored.

Beyond the Box Score
– Liberty is now 1-6 all-time against UCLA, the alma mater of current head coach Dot Richardson.

– Liberty is now 6-11 all-time in NCAA Division I Softball Championship play, including 6-7 under 10th-year Head Coach Dot Richardson. Liberty is now 3-5 all-time in NCAA Regional games when facing elimination.

– Prior to today, the highest-ranked team Liberty had beaten in softball was No. 6, in Michigan (2007, 2020) and Clemson (2023).

– The Lady Flames have set a program record for most Top 25 wins (4) and most games against nationally-ranked opponents (16) in a single season.

– Keeney has set a new program single-season record with 249 2/3 innings pitched.

– Keeney also holds the program record for most wins over Top 25 teams, with eight in her career.

– UCLA had made each of the last seven Women’s College World Series, a streak which began in 2015.