Emily Zaplatosch made a rain-shortened weekend as long and arduous as her last name for the No. 2 Arizona softball team.
The senior catcher tapped a single through the infield with no one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, and No. 13 UCLA (23-10, 4-4 Pacific 10 Conference) completed a two-game sweep of the Wildcats (31-6, 5-4) 5-4 at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles.
Zaplatosch dominated junior pitcher Alicia Hollowell (21-5) over the weekend, hitting a pair of two-run home runs in the Bruins' 9-1, six-inning victory Saturday and knocking in four runs yesterday to push UCLA back to .500 in the conference standings.
Zaplatosch finished 4-for-7 in the two games with three home runs and nine RBIs for the Bruins, who won their third consecutive game over Arizona.
"Alicia had handled her in the past very well," said Wildcats assistant coach Larry Ray. "She looked very confident this weekend."
The Wildcats' scheduled game with Washington was delayed because of rain after four innings Friday. The game will resume when the Huskies visit Tucson May 7-8.
Hollowell, who came into the weekend having given up only five home runs, allowed nine runs in two starts against the Bruins.
She struck out a season-low two batters yesterday as freshman Anjelica Selden (15-6) took both wins in her first appearances against Arizona.
"It was a weekend where Alicia didn't have her best stuff," Ray said. "They're a good hitting team, and they took advantage of that."
UCLA appeared to have the series sewed up after taking a 4-1 lead into the top of the sixth inning.
Selden, who relieved starter Lisa Dodd with one out in the fifth, retired senior third baseman Jen Martinez, who started in place of an injured Jackie Coburn.
Senior designated player Candace Abrams followed with a solo home run, her first of the season, to right-center field.
Sophomore center fielder Caitlin Lowe led off the seventh with an infield single, and junior left fielder Autumn Champion walked to put runners on first and second.
Sophomore shortstop Kristie Fox, who drove in Lowe with a single in the first, lined a double into right-center to tie the game at four.
"I thought the kids did a good job," Ray said. "We battled. We battled back."
Arizona carried a one-run lead in the bottom of the first before Zaplatosch hit a three-run home run, her fifth of the season. Shortstop Jodie Legaspi smacked a home run in the next at-bat to put UCLA ahead for good.
The Bruins tagged Hollowell and freshman Taryne Mowatt for all nine of their runs in the final three innings Saturday.
Zaplatosch's two-run homer in the sixth ended the game as per the eight-run mercy rule, the first time UCLA has forced an early ending against Arizona since May 7, 1999.
Mowatt, coming off a one-run, five-hit performance March 10 against Oregon, allowed five runs on six hits and walked two in 1 2/3 innings.
Selden, who threw a one-hitter Friday against No. 22 ASU, gave up one run, none earned, on six hits with 10 strikeouts in six innings.
Both games sold out at Easton Stadium, which recently finished renovations.
Arizona comes home for a two-game set with the Sun Devils (26-16, 1-9) Friday and Saturday at Hillenbrand Stadium. The Wildcats defeated ASU 1-0 April 6 in Tempe.