Thursday, February 16
Clearwater, FL
4:00 PM
UCLA
vs
Nebraska
Jordan Woolery leads all Bruin freshmen with a .471 batting average.
Photo by: Ross Turteltaub
No. 2 Bruins Return to Clearwater
February 15, 2023 | Softball
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 2 UCLA softball team returns to the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla., for a third year. The Bruins (7-0) open the tournament with Nebraska on Thursday at 4 p.m. (PT) on ESPN+.
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UCLA will play five games, including three against top-15 teams, all of which will be televised on the ESPN Family of Networks.
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The Bruins are 8-2 all-time at the tournament after going 5-0 in 2020 and 3-2 in 2022. UCLA will play No. 15 Alabama on Friday at 1 p.m. (PT) on ESPN2 and a pair of ACC powers in No. 6 Florida State and No. 8 Virginia Tech on Saturday at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. (PT), respectively, on ESPNU. The Bruins close the weekend versus Louisiana at 7 a.m. (PT).
UCLA's TaxAct Clearwater Invitational Schedule
Key Notes About UCLA
โข Brady became the 17th Bruin ever to receive NFCA National Player of the Week honors on Tuesday, Feb. 14. A UCLA student-athlete has received the award a total of 26 times. See below for more notes on Brady's historic weekend.
โข The Bruins have returned two of their top five main contributors in the lineup and their ace from last season's squad. UCLA went 51-10 last year, advancing to the Women's College World Series for a seventh consecutive season and finishing t-3rd. Veteran players back this season include seventh year Aaliyah Jordan and redshirt seniors Megan Faraimo, Anna Vines and Kelli Godin. All four players helped the Bruins win their most recent NCAA Championship in 2019. UCLA has also returned redshirt juniors Maya Brady, Seneca Curo and sophomore Savannah Pola.
โข UCLA added 11 total newcomers to the roster this season for its most in program history (previously was eight). Four of the new Bruins are transfers: Janelle Meoño (OF) and Sharlize Palacios (C) from Arizona and Brooke Yanez (LHP) and Rachel Cid (INF) from Oregon. The seven freshmen include utilities Kennedy Powell and Megan Grant, pitcher Taylor Tinsley, catcher Alexis Ramirez and infielders Rylee Pinedo, Jordan Woolery and Ramsey Suarez.
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NFCA National Player of the Week
Redshirt junior utility Maya Brady received NFCA National Player of the Week honors after going 13-for-16 with 14 RBI and four home runs in UCLA's season-opening Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament. In that stretch, Brady broke a 24-year-old UCLA record with 11 consecutive base hits after going 4-for-4 with two home runs in game one versus San Diego on Sunday, 6-for-6 in her two games on Saturday and 1-for-1 versus CSU Bakersfield on Friday. UCLA legends Lisa Fernandez (March 1993) and Stacey Nuveman (Feb. 1999) formerly held the record.
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Brady's 13 hits are tied for second most by a UCLA player through the first six games of a season. Only Kylee Perez had more with 14 in 2017. Brady is tied with Natasha Watley, who had 13 hits to open the 2003 and 2002 seasons, and Stephanie Ramos (2003) and Christie Ambrosi (1999). Game one versus San Diego on Sunday also marked the third multi-homer game of her UCLA career. Brady capped her first weekend of the season with a walk-off, 3-run home run versus San Diego in game two to give her three total home runs on the day.
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Bruins Sweep the Pac-12 Awards
Maya Brady (Player OTW), Megan Faraimo (Pitcher OTW) and Taylor Tinsley (Freshman OTW) swept the Pac-12's first weekly awards of the 2023 season, it was announced Monday, Feb 13. This marks the 20th time UCLA has swept the weekly Pac-12 awards dating back to 1992 when it began awarding Player and Pitcher of the Week awards. The last time the Bruins swept was March 23, 2021, when Rachel Garcia, Faraimo and Brady accomplished the feat. This is Brady's third conference player of the week honor and Faraimo's sixth pitcher of the week honor.
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Back-to-Back No-Hitters
Freshman Taylor Tinsley and Megan Faraimo tossed back-to-back no-hitters last weekend. Tinsley no-hit CSU Bakersfield in her first career start on Friday, Feb. 11. Tinsley joins Amanda Freed (1999-2002) as the only Bruins to throw a no-hitter in their first career appearance in the circle. Freed no-hit Santa Clara in her pitching debut on Feb. 5, 1999. Tinsley's performance marked the 115th no-hitter in UCLA history. Her final line included four strikeouts and no walks nor any errors. The Roadrunners' first and only baserunner did not come until the fifth inning when Alexis Ortega reached via catcher's interference.
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The very next day, Faraimo threw the sixth solo no-hitter of her career when she retired 15 consecutive San Diego batters, including eight strikeouts, in game one Sunday. Faraimo earned three of the Bruins' six wins on the weekend. She also earned wins on Opening Night in UCLA's 3-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton and was the recipient of the win versus San Diego in game two. The Bruins last threw no-hitters in back-to-back games in 2022. Faraimo and Lauren Shaw combined for a perfect game versus Pennsylvania on March 10 and Faraimo struck out 15 consecutive Roadrunners in her perfecto against CSU Bakersfield on March 11.
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No First-Game Jitters
In addition to Tinsley's historic debut, five other freshmen showed out in their first time in a Bruin uniform last weekend. Megan Grant and Ramsey Suarez both logged their first career homers. Grant leads UCLA's seven freshmen with eight RBI. Grant started in every game to begin the season in four different positions: SS, 3B, RF and DP. Jordan Woolery started six of UCLA's first seven games of the season at first base. Woolery ranks third on the team and leads all freshmen with a .471 batting average. Outfielder Kennedy Powell made the most of the time she saw last week, going 6-for-13 with four RBI. Against Liberty, Powell knocked in the game-winning run with a base hit to center field in the fifth inning.
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USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List
Senior Megan Faraimo and juniors Maya Brady and Sharlize Palacios were selected to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List. Brady, a utility out of Thousand Oaks, Calif., was second on the squad with 15 home runs in 2022, two of which came on June 6 versus No. 1 Oklahoma at the Women's College World Series. Reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Megan Faraimo tossed two solo perfect games (and one combined with Lauren Shaw) and led the conference in strikeouts (292) in 2022. Palacios helped Arizona to the WCWS as the team's starting catcher with 20 homers last season.
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Preseason All-Pac-12 Team
Five UCLA players were named to the 2023 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team on Feb. 1: Maya Brady, Megan Faraimo, Aaliyah Jordan, Sharlize Palacios and Brooke Yanez. UCLA paced the conference with five of the 19 named to the team with the next-closest school being Washington with four selections.ย
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Pac-12 Favorites
The Bruins were picked to finish first in the annual Pac-12 Softball Coaches' Preseason Poll. UCLA received eight of nine possible first-place votes in the preseason poll. Washington was the only other institution to receive a first-place vote. UCLA garnered a total of 64 points to secure its spot atop the preseason coaches poll for the third consecutive season and league-record 13th time overall (since 1999). The Bruins have not finished below third in the conference since 2013 (t-5th).
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Preseason Polls
UCLA was tabbed at No. 2 in both the 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25. UCLA is tied with Arizona with 24 top-10 appearances in the NFCA preseason poll. It's the eighth-straight season the Bruins have been slotted in the top 10 of the preseason poll.
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Where the Bruins Stack Up Nationally
โข Entering week two, Maya Brady leads the nation with 25 total bases and is tied for first with 14 runs batted in and four home runs. She ranks second in total hits (13), fourth in batting average (.812) and sixth in slugging (1.562).
โข In the circle, Megan Faraimo leads the nation with three wins and is sixth in strikeouts with 25.
โข Savannah Pola is tied for seventh in the country with three doubles.
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Climbing UCLA's All-Time Rankings
โข With her impressive performances last weekend, Maya Brady saw her career slugging percentage increase 29 points to .715 which puts her at fifth all-time in UCLA history. She leapfrogged teammate Aaliyah Jordan (.688).
โข Megan Faraimo's four wins to begin 2023 pushed her career record to 76-13 and passed Debbie Doom (73 wins) on UCLA's career wins list, into ninth place. Faraimo also passed her pitching coach, the Mark Kalmansohn UCLA Associate Head Softball Coach Lisa Fernandez, on the Bruins' career strikeouts list. Faraimo has now struck out 806 batters and is seven shy of tying her Team USA teammate Rachel Garcia for fifth place (813).
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A Look at the Schedule
โข UCLA will play a 56-game regular-season schedule with 26 games against 14 opponents ranked in the NFCA Coaches preseason top 25 poll. The Bruins will play five of the eight teams from last year's Women's College World Series: Florida (Feb. 23), Northwestern (Feb. 25), Oklahoma (Feb. 26), Oregon State (April 6-8) and Arizona (April 14-16).
โข Following the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, the Bruins will return to three preseason tournament staples. From Feb. 16-19, UCLA will compete at the fourth-annual TaxAct Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. (Feb. 16-19). The following week, the Bruins will head to Cathedral City for the 17th rendition of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Feb. 23-26). Concluding the preseason schedule is the Judi Garman Classic at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif. (March 3-5).
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Golden Eagle Bruins
Faraimo, Brady and Palacios each represented Team USA on the U.S. Women's National Team over the offseason.
FARAIMO: Competed in the Japan All-Star Series, The World Games in Birmingham, Ala., the Canada Cup and the Pan American Championship with fellow Bruin Rachel Garcia.
PALACIOS: Competed in the Japan All-Star Series and Canada Cup ... in 10 games across both events, she hit .471 (8-for-17) with two home runs, a triple and five RBI ... helped Team USA to a Canada Cup championship (.571 avg.).
BRADY: Went 4-for-8 in the Japan All-Star Series.
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Good Things Come in Threes
UCLA's roster totes three of the last four Pac-12 Batting Champions in Aaliyah Jordan (2018), Kelli Godin (2019) and Janelle Meoño (2021). All three players won the award as freshmen. Jordan won the title with a .429 batting average (84 hits), Godin with a .418 average (56 hits) and Meoño with a .439 average (72 hits). Jordan's 84 hits in 2018 rank t-8th for a single season in UCLA history.
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Postseason Success
UCLA advanced to the Women's College World Series for the seventh year in a row in 2022, extending its longest active streak in the nation. The Bruins have appeared in the NCAA Tournament a record 37 total times, including 23 straight, and have missed out on just three occasions (last in 1998). UCLA is the winningest team in NCAA postseason history with a 233-64 (.785) record.
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On the Biggest Stage โฆ
Three Bruins received All-Women's College World Series Tournament honors following the end of the 2022 season: Maya Brady, Megan Faraimo and Delanie Wisz.
BRADY: Maya Brady led the Bruins with a .438 average and seven RBI at the WCWS. Brady recorded the second two-homer game of her career, going deep twice off Oklahoma on June 6 to force an "if necessary" game later that day.
FARAIMO: Megan Faraimo had one of the most spectacular plays of the entire 2022 WCWS, putting on a show with both her arm and bat versus Northwestern. With the bases loaded and down 3-0 in the count to Rachel Lewis, Faraimo fired in three straight strikes to K the Big 10 Player of the Year. Just minutes later, she hit a solo bomb off Big 10 Pitcher of the Year Danielle Williams. Faraimo also handed No. 1 Oklahoma its third loss of the season later at the WCWS.
WISZ: Delanie Wisz opened the Bruins' first game against the Sooners with a home run in the first inning for her second longball in OKC. Her first came against No. 14 Texas on June 2.
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Offseason Promotions
UCLA coaching greats Lisa Fernandez and Kirk Walker each received promotions to associate head coach roles this past offseason. Fernandez, now the Mark Kalmansohn UCLA Associate Head Softball Coach as of August 10, 2022, begins her 25th season on the Bruins' staff in 2023 (1997-99, 2007-Pres.). With Fernandez on the staff, UCLA has posted a 1,117-240-2 (.822) record and won five NCAA Championships. Fernandez has also been honored as a member of the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year three times (2004, 2010, and 2019) and NFCA Regional CSOY seven times (last 2021).
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Arguably the greatest pitcher in softball history, Fernandez has coached nine Bruin hurlers to 20 NFCA All-American awards. Fernandez has led the Bruins to a top five nationally-ranked earned run average in every season since taking over as UCLA's pitching coach in 2019. In the Bruins' 2019 NCAA Championship campaign, Fernandez's staff dominated with a 1.43 earned run average, ranking second in the country.
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Walker, who has helped lead UCLA to seven NCAA Championships, was promoted on Aug. 12. Walker has accumulated a coaching record of 780-144-1 (.843) over 21 years in Westwood, separated by two stints from 1984-94 and 2012-Pres. Walker has been a fixture in the third base coaches' box since his return to UCLA in 2012, contributing to the 2019 National Coaching Staff of the Year award and five NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year awards. Walker, who helped establish UCLA softball's early dynasty, was hired as the program's first-ever undergraduate assistant coach in 1985.
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Five All-Americans
UCLA returns three former NFCA All-Americans from last year's squad in Maya Brady, Aaliyah Jordan and Megan Faraimo and added two more through the transfer portal this offseason in Janelle Meoño and Brooke Yanez.
BRADY: Brady was an NFCA First Team All-American in 2021 and is a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree. The redshirt sophomore utility was the Bruins' everyday center fielder a season ago and recorded 13 multi-RBI games.
JORDAN: Jordan is a two-time NFCA First Team All-American (2021, 2018) and is one of four members still remaining from the Bruins' 2019 NCAA Championship squad. Jordan missed the majority of last season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered at the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational. She is back in Westwood for her seventh year in 2023. She owns a career batting average of .389 and ranks third on UCLA's career doubles list with 60.
FARAIMO: Faraimo is a two-time NFCA All-American after earning second team honors in 2022. She was the Bruins' ace last season with a 24-5 record and averaging a monstrous 10.32 K/7.
MEOÑO: Meoño was honored as an NFCA Third Team All-American in 2021 after claiming the Pac-12 Batting Champion title with a .442 batting average.
YANEZ: Yanez was an NFCA Third Team All-American in her last season of action in 2021. That year, she was a 22-game winner with 268 strikeouts over 182.1 innings pitched as the ace of the Oregon Ducks' staff.
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New Bruins
โข UCLA reloaded via recruiting and the transfer portal in 2023. Highlighting the Bruins' class of freshmen are utility Megan Grant, infielder Jordan Woolery and pitcher Taylor Tinsley.
โข Megan Grant was ranked as the No. 2 overall recruit in the country by Extra Inning Softball after starring four years at Aragon High School. She was named to the San Francisco Chronicle's 2022 All-Metro First Team and Mercury News' All-Bay Area Softball First Team her senior season. In 2021, Grant helped United States U18 Women's National Team win gold at both the WBSC U18 World Cup in Lima, Peru, and Junior Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Colombia.
โข The Bruins beefed up their rotation with the addition of Taylor Tinsley, who was ranked as the No. 1 pitcher and No. 2 overall recruit by Softball America. Tinsley was awarded First Team All-State each year of her high school career a George Walton Academy. She is UCLA's first player out of the state of Georgia (Lawrenceville).
โข Transferring to Westwood from Arizona are outfielder Janelle Meoño and catcher Sharlize Palacios. Palacios was a member of two WCWS squads for the Wildcats as their everyday designated player in 2021 and everyday catcher in 2022. In three seasons, she totaled 122 hits, 128 RBI and 39 home runs, including three grand slams as a freshman in 2020. Palacios collected All-Pac-12 First Team plaudits in 2022 and 2021. Meoño, a rangy and speedy outfielder, bat leadoff in 34 of her 35 games played last season. In her Pac-12 Batting Champion 2021 season, Meoño had a 27-game hitting streak.
โข Also coming via the portal from Oregon are left-handed pitcher Brooke Yanez and infielder Rachel Cid. Yanez is back to full health after missing the 2022 season due to injury. Yanez had impressive showings against the Bruins in the past. In 2021, she defeated UCLA twice when it was ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively. Yanez struck out 10 Bruins in a 3-1 win on Feb. 28 and threw a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts on April 9.
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Pitching Dominance
UCLA has led the Pac-12 in ERA and wins in each of the last four seasons. In 2022, the Bruins' pitching staff led the Pac-12 in nearly every statistical category: ERA (1.72), strikeouts (486), wins (51), opposing batting average (.180) and saves (12).
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MEGANTRON
Megan Faraimo earned the first Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year award of her career and was named to her third All-Pac-12 First Team in 2022. Faraimo was also a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist for the second season in a row after boasting the her first 20-win season (24-5 record). Faraimo's 1.98 ERA and Pac-12-leading 292 strikeouts (8th in the country) earned her NFCA Second Team All-American honors. She also set a UCLA single-season record in saves (7).
Notes on Megan Faraimo: The tallest player on the squad at 6-foot, Faraimo owns a lifetime 1.45 ERA and is seventh on UCLA's career strikeouts list with 768. She owns a 72-13 career record. She has thrown four solo perfect games which ranks second all-time in program history behind Debbie Doom (1982-85, 6 perfect games). In her most recent perfect game versus CSU Bakersfield on March 11, 2022, Faraimo struck out all 15 batters she faced. Faraimo opened the game with 30 consecutive strikes. Her first ball came to the third batter of the third inning.
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University of Pitchers Who Rake, Los Angeles
Megan Faraimo became the sixth player in UCLA history to pitch and hit a home run in the same Women's College World Series game when she earned the win and went yard off Northwestern on June 3, 2022. She joins Rachel Garcia, Megan Langenfeld, Amanda Freed, Courtney Dale and Lisa Fernandez. Other Bruin hurlers with a rich history of doing "double duty" include Ally Carda and Jessica Hall.
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20-Game Winners
Last season, Megan Faraimo (24-5) and Holly Azevedo (21-3) became the first 20-win Bruin pitching duo in 20 years. Keira Goerl (32) and Amanda Freed (21) last accomplished the feat in 2002. It was the ninth time in program history UCLA has had a pair of 20-game winners in a single season. Faraimo and Azevedo were one of just two duos to each have 20 wins last season (Oklahoma's Hope Trautwein and Jordy Bahl).
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Seventh Year
Aaliyah Jordan returns for her seventh year in Westwood in 2023. She has the opportunity to continue climbing UCLA's record book in several categories: RBI (7th, 197), doubles (3rd, 60), hits (21st, 237), total bases (11th, 419) and slugging percentage (5th, .688).
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Savvy Savi
Savannah Pola enters her sophomore season following a strong freshman campaign which yielded All-Pac-12 Third Team, Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and NFCA West All-Region accolades. Pola, a Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Finalist, hit for a .342 batting average and ranked second on the squad with 15 doubles. She hit a walk-off single versus Florida on June 5 at the Women's College World Series to secure an 8-0 mercy-rule victory. The three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week had a six-RBI outing with two doubles and a homer versus Texas A&M on March 5.
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Brady Loves the Postseason
One of the main sticks in the Bruins' lineup from 2022 looks to carry her momentum from last season into 2023. Brady boasts a lifetime .728 slugging percentage with six home runs in the postseason. At the 2022 WCWS alone, Brady recorded 14 total bases, eight of which came on her two blasts against
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UCLA will play five games, including three against top-15 teams, all of which will be televised on the ESPN Family of Networks.
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The Bruins are 8-2 all-time at the tournament after going 5-0 in 2020 and 3-2 in 2022. UCLA will play No. 15 Alabama on Friday at 1 p.m. (PT) on ESPN2 and a pair of ACC powers in No. 6 Florida State and No. 8 Virginia Tech on Saturday at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. (PT), respectively, on ESPNU. The Bruins close the weekend versus Louisiana at 7 a.m. (PT).
UCLA's TaxAct Clearwater Invitational Schedule
| Date | Day | Home vs. Away | Time (PT) | Watch |
| 2/16/23 | Thu. | No. 2 UCLA vs. Nebraska | 4 p.m. | ESPN+ |
| 2/17/23 | Fri. | No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 15 Alabama | 1 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| 2/18/23 | Sat. | No. 6 Florida State vs. No. 2 UCLAย | 7 a.m. | ESPNU |
| 2/18/23 | Sat. | No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 8 Virginia Tech | 1 p.m. | ESPNU |
| 2/18/23 | Sun. | Louisiana vs. No. 2 UCLA | 7 a.m. | ESPNU |
Key Notes About UCLA
โข Brady became the 17th Bruin ever to receive NFCA National Player of the Week honors on Tuesday, Feb. 14. A UCLA student-athlete has received the award a total of 26 times. See below for more notes on Brady's historic weekend.
โข The Bruins have returned two of their top five main contributors in the lineup and their ace from last season's squad. UCLA went 51-10 last year, advancing to the Women's College World Series for a seventh consecutive season and finishing t-3rd. Veteran players back this season include seventh year Aaliyah Jordan and redshirt seniors Megan Faraimo, Anna Vines and Kelli Godin. All four players helped the Bruins win their most recent NCAA Championship in 2019. UCLA has also returned redshirt juniors Maya Brady, Seneca Curo and sophomore Savannah Pola.
โข UCLA added 11 total newcomers to the roster this season for its most in program history (previously was eight). Four of the new Bruins are transfers: Janelle Meoño (OF) and Sharlize Palacios (C) from Arizona and Brooke Yanez (LHP) and Rachel Cid (INF) from Oregon. The seven freshmen include utilities Kennedy Powell and Megan Grant, pitcher Taylor Tinsley, catcher Alexis Ramirez and infielders Rylee Pinedo, Jordan Woolery and Ramsey Suarez.
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NFCA National Player of the Week
Redshirt junior utility Maya Brady received NFCA National Player of the Week honors after going 13-for-16 with 14 RBI and four home runs in UCLA's season-opening Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament. In that stretch, Brady broke a 24-year-old UCLA record with 11 consecutive base hits after going 4-for-4 with two home runs in game one versus San Diego on Sunday, 6-for-6 in her two games on Saturday and 1-for-1 versus CSU Bakersfield on Friday. UCLA legends Lisa Fernandez (March 1993) and Stacey Nuveman (Feb. 1999) formerly held the record.
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Brady's 13 hits are tied for second most by a UCLA player through the first six games of a season. Only Kylee Perez had more with 14 in 2017. Brady is tied with Natasha Watley, who had 13 hits to open the 2003 and 2002 seasons, and Stephanie Ramos (2003) and Christie Ambrosi (1999). Game one versus San Diego on Sunday also marked the third multi-homer game of her UCLA career. Brady capped her first weekend of the season with a walk-off, 3-run home run versus San Diego in game two to give her three total home runs on the day.
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Bruins Sweep the Pac-12 Awards
Maya Brady (Player OTW), Megan Faraimo (Pitcher OTW) and Taylor Tinsley (Freshman OTW) swept the Pac-12's first weekly awards of the 2023 season, it was announced Monday, Feb 13. This marks the 20th time UCLA has swept the weekly Pac-12 awards dating back to 1992 when it began awarding Player and Pitcher of the Week awards. The last time the Bruins swept was March 23, 2021, when Rachel Garcia, Faraimo and Brady accomplished the feat. This is Brady's third conference player of the week honor and Faraimo's sixth pitcher of the week honor.
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Back-to-Back No-Hitters
Freshman Taylor Tinsley and Megan Faraimo tossed back-to-back no-hitters last weekend. Tinsley no-hit CSU Bakersfield in her first career start on Friday, Feb. 11. Tinsley joins Amanda Freed (1999-2002) as the only Bruins to throw a no-hitter in their first career appearance in the circle. Freed no-hit Santa Clara in her pitching debut on Feb. 5, 1999. Tinsley's performance marked the 115th no-hitter in UCLA history. Her final line included four strikeouts and no walks nor any errors. The Roadrunners' first and only baserunner did not come until the fifth inning when Alexis Ortega reached via catcher's interference.
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The very next day, Faraimo threw the sixth solo no-hitter of her career when she retired 15 consecutive San Diego batters, including eight strikeouts, in game one Sunday. Faraimo earned three of the Bruins' six wins on the weekend. She also earned wins on Opening Night in UCLA's 3-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton and was the recipient of the win versus San Diego in game two. The Bruins last threw no-hitters in back-to-back games in 2022. Faraimo and Lauren Shaw combined for a perfect game versus Pennsylvania on March 10 and Faraimo struck out 15 consecutive Roadrunners in her perfecto against CSU Bakersfield on March 11.
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No First-Game Jitters
In addition to Tinsley's historic debut, five other freshmen showed out in their first time in a Bruin uniform last weekend. Megan Grant and Ramsey Suarez both logged their first career homers. Grant leads UCLA's seven freshmen with eight RBI. Grant started in every game to begin the season in four different positions: SS, 3B, RF and DP. Jordan Woolery started six of UCLA's first seven games of the season at first base. Woolery ranks third on the team and leads all freshmen with a .471 batting average. Outfielder Kennedy Powell made the most of the time she saw last week, going 6-for-13 with four RBI. Against Liberty, Powell knocked in the game-winning run with a base hit to center field in the fifth inning.
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USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List
Senior Megan Faraimo and juniors Maya Brady and Sharlize Palacios were selected to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List. Brady, a utility out of Thousand Oaks, Calif., was second on the squad with 15 home runs in 2022, two of which came on June 6 versus No. 1 Oklahoma at the Women's College World Series. Reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Megan Faraimo tossed two solo perfect games (and one combined with Lauren Shaw) and led the conference in strikeouts (292) in 2022. Palacios helped Arizona to the WCWS as the team's starting catcher with 20 homers last season.
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Preseason All-Pac-12 Team
Five UCLA players were named to the 2023 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team on Feb. 1: Maya Brady, Megan Faraimo, Aaliyah Jordan, Sharlize Palacios and Brooke Yanez. UCLA paced the conference with five of the 19 named to the team with the next-closest school being Washington with four selections.ย
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Pac-12 Favorites
The Bruins were picked to finish first in the annual Pac-12 Softball Coaches' Preseason Poll. UCLA received eight of nine possible first-place votes in the preseason poll. Washington was the only other institution to receive a first-place vote. UCLA garnered a total of 64 points to secure its spot atop the preseason coaches poll for the third consecutive season and league-record 13th time overall (since 1999). The Bruins have not finished below third in the conference since 2013 (t-5th).
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Preseason Polls
UCLA was tabbed at No. 2 in both the 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25. UCLA is tied with Arizona with 24 top-10 appearances in the NFCA preseason poll. It's the eighth-straight season the Bruins have been slotted in the top 10 of the preseason poll.
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Where the Bruins Stack Up Nationally
โข Entering week two, Maya Brady leads the nation with 25 total bases and is tied for first with 14 runs batted in and four home runs. She ranks second in total hits (13), fourth in batting average (.812) and sixth in slugging (1.562).
โข In the circle, Megan Faraimo leads the nation with three wins and is sixth in strikeouts with 25.
โข Savannah Pola is tied for seventh in the country with three doubles.
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Climbing UCLA's All-Time Rankings
โข With her impressive performances last weekend, Maya Brady saw her career slugging percentage increase 29 points to .715 which puts her at fifth all-time in UCLA history. She leapfrogged teammate Aaliyah Jordan (.688).
โข Megan Faraimo's four wins to begin 2023 pushed her career record to 76-13 and passed Debbie Doom (73 wins) on UCLA's career wins list, into ninth place. Faraimo also passed her pitching coach, the Mark Kalmansohn UCLA Associate Head Softball Coach Lisa Fernandez, on the Bruins' career strikeouts list. Faraimo has now struck out 806 batters and is seven shy of tying her Team USA teammate Rachel Garcia for fifth place (813).
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A Look at the Schedule
โข UCLA will play a 56-game regular-season schedule with 26 games against 14 opponents ranked in the NFCA Coaches preseason top 25 poll. The Bruins will play five of the eight teams from last year's Women's College World Series: Florida (Feb. 23), Northwestern (Feb. 25), Oklahoma (Feb. 26), Oregon State (April 6-8) and Arizona (April 14-16).
โข Following the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, the Bruins will return to three preseason tournament staples. From Feb. 16-19, UCLA will compete at the fourth-annual TaxAct Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. (Feb. 16-19). The following week, the Bruins will head to Cathedral City for the 17th rendition of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Feb. 23-26). Concluding the preseason schedule is the Judi Garman Classic at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif. (March 3-5).
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Golden Eagle Bruins
Faraimo, Brady and Palacios each represented Team USA on the U.S. Women's National Team over the offseason.
FARAIMO: Competed in the Japan All-Star Series, The World Games in Birmingham, Ala., the Canada Cup and the Pan American Championship with fellow Bruin Rachel Garcia.
PALACIOS: Competed in the Japan All-Star Series and Canada Cup ... in 10 games across both events, she hit .471 (8-for-17) with two home runs, a triple and five RBI ... helped Team USA to a Canada Cup championship (.571 avg.).
BRADY: Went 4-for-8 in the Japan All-Star Series.
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Good Things Come in Threes
UCLA's roster totes three of the last four Pac-12 Batting Champions in Aaliyah Jordan (2018), Kelli Godin (2019) and Janelle Meoño (2021). All three players won the award as freshmen. Jordan won the title with a .429 batting average (84 hits), Godin with a .418 average (56 hits) and Meoño with a .439 average (72 hits). Jordan's 84 hits in 2018 rank t-8th for a single season in UCLA history.
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Postseason Success
UCLA advanced to the Women's College World Series for the seventh year in a row in 2022, extending its longest active streak in the nation. The Bruins have appeared in the NCAA Tournament a record 37 total times, including 23 straight, and have missed out on just three occasions (last in 1998). UCLA is the winningest team in NCAA postseason history with a 233-64 (.785) record.
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On the Biggest Stage โฆ
Three Bruins received All-Women's College World Series Tournament honors following the end of the 2022 season: Maya Brady, Megan Faraimo and Delanie Wisz.
BRADY: Maya Brady led the Bruins with a .438 average and seven RBI at the WCWS. Brady recorded the second two-homer game of her career, going deep twice off Oklahoma on June 6 to force an "if necessary" game later that day.
FARAIMO: Megan Faraimo had one of the most spectacular plays of the entire 2022 WCWS, putting on a show with both her arm and bat versus Northwestern. With the bases loaded and down 3-0 in the count to Rachel Lewis, Faraimo fired in three straight strikes to K the Big 10 Player of the Year. Just minutes later, she hit a solo bomb off Big 10 Pitcher of the Year Danielle Williams. Faraimo also handed No. 1 Oklahoma its third loss of the season later at the WCWS.
WISZ: Delanie Wisz opened the Bruins' first game against the Sooners with a home run in the first inning for her second longball in OKC. Her first came against No. 14 Texas on June 2.
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Offseason Promotions
UCLA coaching greats Lisa Fernandez and Kirk Walker each received promotions to associate head coach roles this past offseason. Fernandez, now the Mark Kalmansohn UCLA Associate Head Softball Coach as of August 10, 2022, begins her 25th season on the Bruins' staff in 2023 (1997-99, 2007-Pres.). With Fernandez on the staff, UCLA has posted a 1,117-240-2 (.822) record and won five NCAA Championships. Fernandez has also been honored as a member of the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year three times (2004, 2010, and 2019) and NFCA Regional CSOY seven times (last 2021).
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Arguably the greatest pitcher in softball history, Fernandez has coached nine Bruin hurlers to 20 NFCA All-American awards. Fernandez has led the Bruins to a top five nationally-ranked earned run average in every season since taking over as UCLA's pitching coach in 2019. In the Bruins' 2019 NCAA Championship campaign, Fernandez's staff dominated with a 1.43 earned run average, ranking second in the country.
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Walker, who has helped lead UCLA to seven NCAA Championships, was promoted on Aug. 12. Walker has accumulated a coaching record of 780-144-1 (.843) over 21 years in Westwood, separated by two stints from 1984-94 and 2012-Pres. Walker has been a fixture in the third base coaches' box since his return to UCLA in 2012, contributing to the 2019 National Coaching Staff of the Year award and five NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year awards. Walker, who helped establish UCLA softball's early dynasty, was hired as the program's first-ever undergraduate assistant coach in 1985.
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Five All-Americans
UCLA returns three former NFCA All-Americans from last year's squad in Maya Brady, Aaliyah Jordan and Megan Faraimo and added two more through the transfer portal this offseason in Janelle Meoño and Brooke Yanez.
BRADY: Brady was an NFCA First Team All-American in 2021 and is a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree. The redshirt sophomore utility was the Bruins' everyday center fielder a season ago and recorded 13 multi-RBI games.
JORDAN: Jordan is a two-time NFCA First Team All-American (2021, 2018) and is one of four members still remaining from the Bruins' 2019 NCAA Championship squad. Jordan missed the majority of last season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered at the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational. She is back in Westwood for her seventh year in 2023. She owns a career batting average of .389 and ranks third on UCLA's career doubles list with 60.
FARAIMO: Faraimo is a two-time NFCA All-American after earning second team honors in 2022. She was the Bruins' ace last season with a 24-5 record and averaging a monstrous 10.32 K/7.
MEOÑO: Meoño was honored as an NFCA Third Team All-American in 2021 after claiming the Pac-12 Batting Champion title with a .442 batting average.
YANEZ: Yanez was an NFCA Third Team All-American in her last season of action in 2021. That year, she was a 22-game winner with 268 strikeouts over 182.1 innings pitched as the ace of the Oregon Ducks' staff.
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New Bruins
โข UCLA reloaded via recruiting and the transfer portal in 2023. Highlighting the Bruins' class of freshmen are utility Megan Grant, infielder Jordan Woolery and pitcher Taylor Tinsley.
โข Megan Grant was ranked as the No. 2 overall recruit in the country by Extra Inning Softball after starring four years at Aragon High School. She was named to the San Francisco Chronicle's 2022 All-Metro First Team and Mercury News' All-Bay Area Softball First Team her senior season. In 2021, Grant helped United States U18 Women's National Team win gold at both the WBSC U18 World Cup in Lima, Peru, and Junior Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Colombia.
โข The Bruins beefed up their rotation with the addition of Taylor Tinsley, who was ranked as the No. 1 pitcher and No. 2 overall recruit by Softball America. Tinsley was awarded First Team All-State each year of her high school career a George Walton Academy. She is UCLA's first player out of the state of Georgia (Lawrenceville).
โข Transferring to Westwood from Arizona are outfielder Janelle Meoño and catcher Sharlize Palacios. Palacios was a member of two WCWS squads for the Wildcats as their everyday designated player in 2021 and everyday catcher in 2022. In three seasons, she totaled 122 hits, 128 RBI and 39 home runs, including three grand slams as a freshman in 2020. Palacios collected All-Pac-12 First Team plaudits in 2022 and 2021. Meoño, a rangy and speedy outfielder, bat leadoff in 34 of her 35 games played last season. In her Pac-12 Batting Champion 2021 season, Meoño had a 27-game hitting streak.
โข Also coming via the portal from Oregon are left-handed pitcher Brooke Yanez and infielder Rachel Cid. Yanez is back to full health after missing the 2022 season due to injury. Yanez had impressive showings against the Bruins in the past. In 2021, she defeated UCLA twice when it was ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively. Yanez struck out 10 Bruins in a 3-1 win on Feb. 28 and threw a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts on April 9.
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Pitching Dominance
UCLA has led the Pac-12 in ERA and wins in each of the last four seasons. In 2022, the Bruins' pitching staff led the Pac-12 in nearly every statistical category: ERA (1.72), strikeouts (486), wins (51), opposing batting average (.180) and saves (12).
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MEGANTRON
Megan Faraimo earned the first Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year award of her career and was named to her third All-Pac-12 First Team in 2022. Faraimo was also a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist for the second season in a row after boasting the her first 20-win season (24-5 record). Faraimo's 1.98 ERA and Pac-12-leading 292 strikeouts (8th in the country) earned her NFCA Second Team All-American honors. She also set a UCLA single-season record in saves (7).
Notes on Megan Faraimo: The tallest player on the squad at 6-foot, Faraimo owns a lifetime 1.45 ERA and is seventh on UCLA's career strikeouts list with 768. She owns a 72-13 career record. She has thrown four solo perfect games which ranks second all-time in program history behind Debbie Doom (1982-85, 6 perfect games). In her most recent perfect game versus CSU Bakersfield on March 11, 2022, Faraimo struck out all 15 batters she faced. Faraimo opened the game with 30 consecutive strikes. Her first ball came to the third batter of the third inning.
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University of Pitchers Who Rake, Los Angeles
Megan Faraimo became the sixth player in UCLA history to pitch and hit a home run in the same Women's College World Series game when she earned the win and went yard off Northwestern on June 3, 2022. She joins Rachel Garcia, Megan Langenfeld, Amanda Freed, Courtney Dale and Lisa Fernandez. Other Bruin hurlers with a rich history of doing "double duty" include Ally Carda and Jessica Hall.
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20-Game Winners
Last season, Megan Faraimo (24-5) and Holly Azevedo (21-3) became the first 20-win Bruin pitching duo in 20 years. Keira Goerl (32) and Amanda Freed (21) last accomplished the feat in 2002. It was the ninth time in program history UCLA has had a pair of 20-game winners in a single season. Faraimo and Azevedo were one of just two duos to each have 20 wins last season (Oklahoma's Hope Trautwein and Jordy Bahl).
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Seventh Year
Aaliyah Jordan returns for her seventh year in Westwood in 2023. She has the opportunity to continue climbing UCLA's record book in several categories: RBI (7th, 197), doubles (3rd, 60), hits (21st, 237), total bases (11th, 419) and slugging percentage (5th, .688).
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Savvy Savi
Savannah Pola enters her sophomore season following a strong freshman campaign which yielded All-Pac-12 Third Team, Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and NFCA West All-Region accolades. Pola, a Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Finalist, hit for a .342 batting average and ranked second on the squad with 15 doubles. She hit a walk-off single versus Florida on June 5 at the Women's College World Series to secure an 8-0 mercy-rule victory. The three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week had a six-RBI outing with two doubles and a homer versus Texas A&M on March 5.
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Brady Loves the Postseason
One of the main sticks in the Bruins' lineup from 2022 looks to carry her momentum from last season into 2023. Brady boasts a lifetime .728 slugging percentage with six home runs in the postseason. At the 2022 WCWS alone, Brady recorded 14 total bases, eight of which came on her two blasts against
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/ SoftballUCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Tennessee (June 1, 2025)
Sunday, June 01
UCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Texas Tech (May 31, 2025)
Saturday, May 31
Highlights - UCLA Softball vs. Oregon (May 29, 2025)
Thursday, May 29
UCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Oregon (May 29, 2025)
Thursday, May 29