Redshirt junior Rachel Garcia becomes just the fourth player to earn back-to-back, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year honors.
Back-to-Back: Rachel Garcia Again Wins USA Softball Player of the Year
May 28, 2019 | Softball
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -ย UCLA softball redshirt junior Rachel Garcia was named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year for the second season in a row, as announced on Tuesday at the Women's College World Series banquet.
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Garcia becomes just the fourth player to earn back-to-back, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year honors. It is also the third USA POY award for a Bruin, as Stacey Nuveman won in 2002.
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Garcia, the first to ever be named Pac-12 Conference Player and Pitcher of the Year in the same season, leads the Bruins with a 1.01 earned run average, a 24-1 record, four saves and 253 strikeouts in 166 innings. In 31 appearances and 20 starts, she has 15 complete games and six solo shutouts, holding opponents to a .153 batting average.
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At the plate, Garcia is batting .344 with nine home runs, ranking third on the team with 49 runs batted in. She is also first with 30 walks and four sacrifice flies, adding nine doubles. Garcia enters the Women's College World Series third in the nation in ERA, fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.67), seventh in hits allowed per seven innings (3.80), 15th in strikeouts and tied for 22nd in wins.
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Among Garcia's other honors earned this season are NFCA All-West Region First Team, All-Pac-12 Conference First Team, NFCA National Player of the Week, USA Softball National Player of the Week, four-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and one-time Pac-12 Player of the Week.
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The Bruins open up play at the WCWS on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. PT/1:30 p.m. CT against Minnesota. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -ย UCLA softball redshirt junior Rachel Garcia was named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year for the second season in a row, as announced on Tuesday at the Women's College World Series banquet.
ย
Garcia becomes just the fourth player to earn back-to-back, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year honors. It is also the third USA POY award for a Bruin, as Stacey Nuveman won in 2002.
ย
Garcia, the first to ever be named Pac-12 Conference Player and Pitcher of the Year in the same season, leads the Bruins with a 1.01 earned run average, a 24-1 record, four saves and 253 strikeouts in 166 innings. In 31 appearances and 20 starts, she has 15 complete games and six solo shutouts, holding opponents to a .153 batting average.
ย
At the plate, Garcia is batting .344 with nine home runs, ranking third on the team with 49 runs batted in. She is also first with 30 walks and four sacrifice flies, adding nine doubles. Garcia enters the Women's College World Series third in the nation in ERA, fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.67), seventh in hits allowed per seven innings (3.80), 15th in strikeouts and tied for 22nd in wins.
ย
Among Garcia's other honors earned this season are NFCA All-West Region First Team, All-Pac-12 Conference First Team, NFCA National Player of the Week, USA Softball National Player of the Week, four-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and one-time Pac-12 Player of the Week.
ย
The Bruins open up play at the WCWS on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. PT/1:30 p.m. CT against Minnesota. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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Players Mentioned
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