McDuffee helps UCLA advance

LOS ANGELES, Ca. – Paige McDuffee is used to responding in pressure situations. The left-handed flame-thrower was in the circle for The Woodlands High School softball team when it recorded the final out to capture the 2011 UIL Class 5A state championship and national high school title.

Fast-forward two years and McDuffee, now a sophomore at UCLA, threw the final 2 2/3 innings Sunday to complete a 1-0 shutout of Notre Dame and capture the region tournament. UCLA (51-6), ranked No. 2 in the nation, hosts a Super Regional next week against Kentucky. The winner advances to the NCAA College World Series in Oklahoma City.

McDuffee, the 2011 Gatorade National High School Softball Player of the Year, picked up her second save of the season, yielding just two hits and two walks while striking out one.

Sunday was the first regional appearance for McDuffee, who is 3-0 this season for UCLA with a 2.37 ERA in 41 1/3 innings pitched and 25 strikeouts to her credit. She has started seven games in 13 appearances while throwing two complete games.

Opponents are hitting just .199 against McDuffee this season, a staff-best.

In her freshman season, McDuffee went 6-2 with a 2.38 ERA and two saves. She started 13 games, completing three, and worked a total of 64 2/3 innings, striking out 35. She threw a no-hitter at Seattle University, striking out six while allowing only two baserunners (walk, error).

In 2011, at The Woodlands High School, McDuffee posted a 37-1 record with a 0.97 ERA and 244 strikeouts over 216 innings.