The Utes surround Utahโ€™s Halle Morris (22) after she clouted a two-out, two-run pinch-hit homer in the sixth inning to push their lead to 7-4 against UCLA in the championship game of the Pac-12 Softball Tournament at Hillenbrand Stadium, on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

UCLA and Utah played for keeps.

You want home runs? They hit them.

Timely hits? Plenty.

Great defensive plays? Oh yeah.

The inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament championship game had it all.

It was a game that went down to the wire. In the end, it was only fitting that a Tucsonan, Halle Morris, who played softball at Canyon del Oro High School grad, came through with the clutch two-run blast to center field to help Utah pull away for a 7-4 victory at Hillenbrand Stadium Saturday night.

No. 3 seed Utah (37-13) earns the Pac-12โ€™s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. The rest of the 64-team field will be announced on at 4 p.m. Sunday. If the Utes end up hosting, most likely it will be in the final spot at No. 16.

Saturday marked the first loss for No. 1 seed UCLA (52-5) since March 24 at Oregon. When these teams met in the regular season, the Bruins swept the Utes.

โ€œThis group wants to win; they want to win championships,โ€ Utah coach Amy Hogue said. โ€œThis was just the first one. โ€ฆ They talked about being the first winner of the first-ever (Pac-12 Tournament). They said it out loud, which to me says they're willing to risk looking silly. You don't say that stuff out loud.

"You're picked to take eighth (in the conference), but they believed in themselves. They said it out loud, and they went and just did that. They just did that.โ€

Utah pitcher Mariah Lopez (8), left, hugs catcher Kendall Lundberg (32) after the Utes secured the last out and a 7-4 upset of UCLA in the championship game of the Pac-12 Softball Tournament at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

A senior utility player, Morris, won a 4A state title at CDOย โ€” and was a pitcher with a career 18-1 record, 1.99 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 112 innings. Morris was hitting .217 coming into the game and had only five hits this season. That is, until she hit the home runย โ€” as a pinch-hitterย โ€” that put the game out of reach in the top of the sixth inning.

โ€œIt doesnโ€™t get any sweeter,โ€ Hogue said of Morris hitting the home run. โ€œWe havenโ€™t pinch-hit in a really long time. (Kendall Lundberg) has been one of our hardest hitters, and it was a tough matchup for her (against Brooke Yanez), and she was struggling today.

โ€œHalle is the right matchup with that lefty โ€ฆ She came in and didnโ€™t do Halle-like things on the first couple of pitches. I'm like, โ€˜What are you doing? I took out the kid swinging at that pitch because I thought you wouldn't.โ€™ But she just wouldn't stop getting better in that at-bat. The more pitches you see and the more swings you take, you actually get stronger and stronger and stronger. She kept getting closer and closer and closer. She didn't swing at very many strikes, but the one that went out wasn't a strike either. I'm not going to complain about that.โ€

Utah dug a hole early, giving up a two-run homer in the first to Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jordan Woolery, but that didnโ€™t faze the Utes. They just kept coming back all game. Even when two starters for the Utesย โ€”ย their third and fourth hitters, Julia Jimenez and Sophie Jacquezย โ€” went down with unusual injuries.

In the top of the third inning, Jimenez hit a ball that ricocheted back into her face. An eerie hush filled the stadium until she got up on her own and walked into the dugout.

In the very next half inning, Jacquez got injured running down a ball that went to the wall in right field. She limped off the field. The two players who replaced Jacquez and Jimenez, Hailee White and Shelbi Ortiz, both just battled.

Utah scored three runs in the fourth to tie it at 4-4 off a two-run double down the left field line by Kaylah Nelsen and a run-scoring single to left by Ortiz.

Utah second basement Aliya Belarde (23) manages to handle a wicked hop on a grounder and retire UCLAโ€™s Rachel Cid during the third inning in the championship game of the Pac-12 Softball Tournament at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Megan Faraimo was knocked out of the game in that fourth inning. She gave up four runs on eight hits, struck out four and walked two in 75 total pitches.

Yanez entered in relief and enticed a groundout to end the inning. She pitched a two-hit shutout against Stanford in the semifinals on Friday night. Yanez only allowed one hit in the fifth inning but couldnโ€™t contain the Utes in the sixth.

It was White, the other replacement player, who knocked in the first run with a double to right center field, scoring Ellessa Bonstrom, another CDO product. Then Morris stepped up to punch out the final runs.

โ€œAll the coaches have the utmost confidence in me, so I have confidence in myself,โ€ Morris said. โ€œIt felt amazingย โ€” just go do my job.โ€

Junior ace Mariah Lopez (18-5) picked up the win, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits. She walked seven and struck out five in 131 pitches. After the fourth inning, she only allowed one hit.

At the end of April, Lopez took two of the three losses to the Bruins. Lopez buckled down and threw a no-hit shutout against Oregon just a week ago. She is peaking at the right time. Earning this win, along with it the first Pac-12 Tournament Championship, was sweet.

โ€œI just want the ball,โ€ Lopez said. โ€œThis team believes me. I believe in every single one of them. ...

"I'll ride till we're done. I'm just ready for it.โ€

No. 8 seed Arizona fell to No. 1 seed UCLA 4-3 in the Pac-12 Softball Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at Rita Hillenbrand Stadium. The Wildcats could miss the NCAA postseason for the first time since 1986.

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Contact sports reporter PJ Brown at pjbrown@tucson.com. On Twitter: @PJBrown09