LOS ANGELES – The No. 12 UCLA softball team travels to Corvallis, Ore. for a three-game series versus Oregon State at Kelly Field from April 5-7. The Bruins (20-8, 6-2 Pac-12) begin action with the Beavers (15-19, 3-6 Pac-12) Friday at 5 p.m. (PT). All three games of the series will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
Quick Hits
· UCLA is 20-8 on the season and 6-2 in Pac-12 play with series sweeps over Utah and No. 24 Oregon.
· The Bruins are third in the Pac-12 standings and two games back of first-place No. 8 Stanford (28-6, 8-1 Pac-12).
· RS Sr. Maya Brady leads UCLA with a .407 average, 35 runs batted in, 26 runs scored and nine home runs.
· For the second straight year, Brady is leading the Pac-12 in slugging percentage with an .826 mark.
· RS Sr. Sharlize Palacios is second on the team with eight home runs.
· Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list (63). She has two multi-homer games this season.
· Fr. Kaitlyn Terry owns a perfect 9-0 record and leads UCLA with a 2.21 earned run average two months into the season.
· Terry has hauled in two Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards this season.
· Kelly Inouye-Perez is five wins away from 800 in her head coaching career.
· So. Taylor Tinsley has started the most games in the circle for UCLA (14) and recorded an 8-7 record and 2.52 ERA.
· The Bruins were picked to finish second in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll (did not receive a first-place vote).
· UCLA won its 12th Pac-12 regular-season championship in 2023 with a 21-3 record (17th overall conference title).
· Four Bruins were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List: Maya Brady, Sharlize Palacios, Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.
Last Week
UCLA won both of its games versus Oregon at Easton Stadium last week before the series finale was canceled due to rain.
Game One (W, 5-3): The Ducks tied the game, 3-3, in the top of the sixth on a double by Emma Kauf and subsequent error on Janelle Meoño's throw back into the infield which went wide of the cutoff. UCLA wasted no time regaining its lead in the bottom half of the sixth. A single by Woolery and four-pitch walk to Grant to leadoff the inning allowed Thessa Malau'ulu to move their two pinch runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. After whiffing on two off-speed pitches, pinch hitter Ramsey Suarez smoked the 0-2 delivery over the left fielder's head to score the two game-winning runs.
Game Two (W, 6-3): Grant's fourth-inning grand slam provided a five-run cushion that UCLA rode in its game-two victory. Grant's bases-loaded big fly came in a one-run ballgame after Oregon cut into UCLA's lead in the third inning.
Brady Heating Up
Maya Brady is building up her Player of the Year candidacy again in 2024. Over the last 10 games, Brady paces the Bruins' offense with a .483 average, 14 RBI, four home runs, seven extra-base hits and 1.000 slugging percentage. Brady leads the Pac-12 with an .826 slugging percentage through 28 games this season; she led the Pac-12 in slugging last season with an .866 mark.
· Brady has hit safely in all eight Pac-12 games this season (13-for-24, .542 avg.) and homered at least once in all three conference series this season. She notched her second two-homer game of the season and eighth of her career in the series finale at then-No. 8 Washington on March 24.
· In conference play, Brady leads the Pac-12 with a .542 batting average (13-for-24), five home runs, .621 on-base percentage and 1.250 slugging percentage over UCLA's eight games.
· The shortstop has shored up on the defensive side of the ball as well with just one error in the month of March (16 games). Brady's fielding percentage has increased 88 points over the month of March from .813 to .901. This season marks Brady's second campaign as UCLA's starting shortstop. She took over the role full-time on March 3, 2023 after Seneca Curo sustained a season-ending injury. She has started at shortstop in 76 career games.
· In 2023, Brady was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 3 Finalist in addition to being a consensus First Team All-American. Brady led UCLA with a .448 average, 18 home runs, 59 RBI, 63 runs scored, 33 extra-base hits and 149 total bases last season.
Brady in the Record Books
Career Home Runs: Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list with 63. Although she won't touch Stacey Nuveman's program record (90 HR), Brady needs four home runs to pass Stephany LaRosa (2012-15) with 66 career home runs for second all-time. Brady's two-homer game versus Washington on March 24 pushed her passed Tairia Mims (2000-03) and Delaney Spaulding (2014-17) with 61 career homers.
Career Two-Homer Games: Brady's two homers against the Huskies on March 24 marked the eighth multi-homer game of her career which is the third most by a Bruin in UCLA history. She moved out of a tie with LaRosa and B.B. Bates (2010-13) with seven. Andrea Harrison (2009-12) ranks second in UCLA history with nine multi-homer games while Stacey Nuveman is first with 12.
Career RBI: Brady became the seventh Bruin to reach 200 career RBI with her grand slam in the second inning of UCLA's 12-1 victory over Utah on March 10. Brady is up to 213 RBI in her career and needs one more to surpass Aaliyah Jordan (2018-23) for fifth on UCLA's all-time list.
Career Runs Scored: Brady has tallied 196 career runs scored and needs four more runs to pass Katie Schroeder's (2008-12) mark of 199 for fourth place on UCLA's all-time list.
Career Slugging Percentage: Brady's career slugging percentage keeps ballooning every week. Her current career mark sits at .753 ranks third all-time in UCLA history and is two points shy of passing LaRosa's .755 slugging percentage.
Palacios Power
Redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios is enjoying her best season yet in Westwood with eight home runs, 24 RBI and a .722 slugging percentage. Palacios earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career on March 11 after going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam during UCLA's bye week contests versus Rutgers and LMU. Defensively, behind the dish, Palacios has yet to commit an error and has thrown out five runners attempting to steal. Her most recent victim was in game three at Washington on March 24 in a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.
Young Arms
UCLA has relied solely on sophomore Taylor Tinsley and freshman Kaitlyn Terry in the circle the last three weekends. The two underclassmen have pitched all 43.0 innings in the Bruins' last seven games. The young duo has shown consistent growth and flashes of brilliance throughout the season. Tinsley served as UCLA's opening starter in the first seven weeks of the season, but Terry took the starting role in game one of the Oregon series last week.
· Tinsley's best week of the season came at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Feb. 23-25) where she allowed just two earned runs and pitched three complete-games. She helped the Bruins to two ranked wins over then-No. 24 Northwestern and then-No. 5 Tennessee which earned her Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time in her career.
· Terry was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks (March 18 & 25). The southpaw put forth her most dominant outing of the season with a complete-game shutout in game three at Washington on March 24. She needed just 81 pitches, limiting the Huskies to two hits and a walk. Terry's performance marked the first shutout by a UCLA freshman versus a top-10 opponent since April 7, 2017, when Rachel Garcia shutout then-No. 1 Oregon. Terry retired the last 11 Huskies of the game and flashed the leather in the fourth inning, starting a 1-6-3 double play. Including her relief outing in game one, Terry allowed just one earned run over 12.1 innings in the series. Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2. The 12 strikeouts are tied with Megan Faraimo (2019) and Rachel Garcia (2017) for the most by a Bruins' freshman over the last 15 years. Donna Kerr was the last UCLA freshman to rack up 12+ strikeouts, recording 15 in a win over Northwestern on March 9, 2008.
Coach I Nearing 800 Wins
Head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 795-205-1 record and is five wins away from win No. 800 in her career. Inouye-Perez would join UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers and her two predecessors Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist in the 800 win club. Enquist leads UCLA's triad of head coaches with 887 career head coaching wins while Backus owns 854 such wins. Inouye-Perez was coached by both Backus and Enquist in her time as a catcher on the Bruins' roster from 1989-93 and later coached alongside Backus and Enquist as an assistant upon graduating. Only one active Pac-12 head coach has achieved 800 career wins: Heather Tarr at Washington.
In the Polls
· UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 12 both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and ESPN/USA Softball Poll, marking UCLA's highest ranking since this year's preseason polls.
· In addition, the Bruins have been slotted in the No. 2 spot in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office on Feb. 1. Stanford was selected as the league's preseason favorite, garnering seven of nine first-place votes. Washington and Utah each received one first-place vote.
Key Notes About the Bruins
· The Bruins have returned seven key pieces from last season's batting lineup: redshirt seniors Maya Brady, Sharlize Palacios, Janelle Meoño and Seneca Curo, junior Savannah Pola and sophomores Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery. They return one arm from last season's pitching staff: sophomore Taylor Tinsley. UCLA has added seven incoming student-athletes with three transfers and four freshmen.
· Kelly Inouye-Perez enters her 18th season as the Bruins' head coach (The Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach). Including her five years as a catcher on UCLA's roster, 13 years as an assistant coach and 17 years as head coach, the 2024 season marks Inouye-Perez's 36th consecutive season in Westwood. Known as "Coach I," Inouye-Perez is the only person to have won a NCAA Division I Softball Championship as both a player and coach. She led the Bruins to two NCAA Championships as head coach in 2010 and 2019. Inouye-Perez owns a 795-205-1 (.794) career record. Her .797 winning percentage entering the season ranks second among active head coaches and seventh all-time. UCLA's first two Hall-of-Fame head coaches, Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist, rank top two all-time in winning percentage.
Oregon State Series History
UCLA leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 112-15, dating back to 1985. The Bruins have won 15 straight games against the Beavers, sweeping the last five season series. UCLA last lost to Oregon State in 2017 which occurred in Corvallis, Ore. Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 41-7 record (.854) against Oregon State in her previous 17 seasons as head coach.
The Series Last Year: The Bruins out scored the Beavers, 23-2, in last season's series sweep of Oregon State. Jordan Woolery recorded the first two-homer game of her career in the game one on April 6, and homered three total times in the series. Maya Brady and Sharlize Palacios also left the yard in the series. Savannah Pola and Megan Grant led the Bruins with five hits apiece over the three games.
Kirk Walker's Success at Oregon State
After 11 seasons as an assistant at UCLA from 1984-94, Kirk Walker spent 18 seasons as the head coach at Oregon State from 1995-2012 before returning to Westwood. Walker, a two-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the Beavers, is the all-time winningest coach in Oregon State softball history and fifth-winningest in Oregon State history regardless of sport. Walker posted a 594-490-3 record (.548) and eight seasons with at least 40 wins while at the helm in Corvallis. In 2006, Walker led the Beavers to their first appearance at the Women's College World Series. In 2005, Walker was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the second time in his career (1999) after guiding Oregon State to a 43-16 record and its first Pac-10 Championship, which was also the first regular-season Pac-10 title for any Beavers women's sports program.
Chef is Cooking
Megan Grant's fourth-inning grand slam versus Oregon on March 29 marked her third big fly of the season and first since March 2 versus DePaul. Grant now has two grand slams to her name, including her shot at then-No. 24 Arizona in April 2023. This season, Grant ranks second on the squad with a .386 batting average and 32 hits.
Grant was a NFCA Second Team All-American, NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 10 Finalist and All-Pac-12 First Team selection last season. The Bay Area native led the squad with 14 doubles and ranked second with 15 homers, 58 RBI, 31 extra-base hits and .695 slugging percentage. She ranked second among all freshman in the NCAA and led all Pac-12 freshmen with 58 RBI. Grant turned it up in conference play last season with a .403 batting average.
UCLA in Pinch Hitting Situations
The Bruins are batting .407 (11-for-27) in pinch hitting situations this season. Six different players have been called upon to pinch hit. Ramsey Suarez, Madison Pacini and Taylor Stephens each have recorded three hits off the bench. Suarez reached twice during the Oregon series (March 28-29) on two pinch-hit singles. Her two-RBI single in the bottom of the sixth in game one versus the Ducks on March 28 proved to be the difference in a 5-3 win. Stephens owns UCLA's only pinch-hit homer of the season, occurring versus Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2.
Allchin: Clutch Gene
· Jadelyn Allchin, a graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23), has provided clutch hits for the Bruins. In the fifth inning or later this season, Allchin is batting for a .448 average (13-for-29) with nine RBI and 11 runs scored. On March 12 versus Rutgers, Allchin delivered a walk-off single. Three days prior to that, Allchin played the hero in game two of UCLA's home series with Utah by knocking in the game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. At the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Allchin doubled in a run to spark a five-run seventh inning to help UCLA walk-off on Nebraska on Feb. 23.
· Allchin has been a mainstay in the top half of the Bruins' lineup the last month. In the Bruins' two games versus Oregon last week, Allchin went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and a triple. Allchin swiped two bases in game two versus Oregon on March 29, marking the first time this season a Bruin has stole more than one base in a game. In 2024, she is one of seven everyday UCLA starters batting above .300 (.308 avg.). Defensively, Allchin has recorded two outfield assists this season: one from left field in the Bruins' 6-2 win over Tennessee on Feb. 25. and one from center field against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11. She has totaled five outfield assists in her career.
Malau'ulu Producing at the Bottom of the Lineup
Senior infielder Thessa Malau'ulu is enjoying the best season of her career in 2024. After missing the entirety of the 2023 season due to injury, Malau'ulu has produced at the bottom of the Bruins' lineup with a .340 batting average, five doubles and 11 RBI after entering the season with just 10 RBI in her previous two seasons. She also sports a .438 on-base percentage, which is up 89 points from her previous career high of .349 set in her freshman 2021 season.
Notes on Taylor Tinsley
Sophomore Taylor Tinsley has shown consistent improvement since week one of the 2024 season in her new role as UCLA's ace. This season, Tinsley owns a 2.52 ERA and 93 strikeouts over 83.1 innings pitched after totaling just 57.1 innings of work in all of last season in her All-Pac-12 Freshman Team campaign. Tinsley was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 26 following her performances at the Mary Nutter Classic.
at the Mary Nutter: Tinsley allowed just two earned runs across three complete-game performances and 22.0 total innings pitched at the Mary Nutter. Among all the pitchers competing at the Mary Nutter (30 teams participating), Tinsley ranked first in innings pitched (22.0) and strikeouts looking (10) and tied for first in strikeouts (30).
vs. Utah: Tinsley picked up two wins, struck out 16 batters and did not allow an earned run over 10.2 innings to help the Bruins to a series sweep of Utah (March 8-10). In her game one victory, Tinsley threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball and allowed only one base runner into scoring position. She finished her outing with nine strikeouts and surrendered just two hits. She limited the Pac-12 batting average leader entering the series, Haley Denning, to 0-for-6 with two Ks.
vs. Oregon: Tinsley allowed just one earned run and was the winning pitcher in both of UCLA's two games versus Oregon (March 28-29). In game one of the series, Tinsley entered in relief and got the Bruins out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning with a strikeout. She retired the Ducks in order in the seventh on just six pitches to close the game. Tinsley turned in 4.0 solid innings in her game-two start, allowing just one run.
Notable Trends
Walk-Offs: UCLA has three walk-off wins in the seventh inning through 28 games this season.
Coming From Behind: UCLA's opponents have scored first in 16 of its 28 games this season. The Bruins own a 9-7 record in games where their opponent scores first. In 2023, UCLA's opponents scored first in only 13 of its 59 total games. Additionally, UCLA's opponents have scored in the first inning 11 times this season compared to last season in which opponents scored in the first inning only eight times in 59 total games.
Perfect vs. the Big Ten
UCLA went a perfect 6-0 versus its scheduled Big Ten Conference opponents this season with wins over Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan and Rutgers. UCLA Athletics announced its decision to join the Big Ten Conference on June 30, 2022. This move will go into effect at the start of the 2024-25 season.
Celebrating the Greatest Softball Conference of All-Time
The 2024 season marks UCLA's final as a member of the Pac-10/12 Conference. UCLA softball has been a member of the conference since 1987 (37 years) and has won 12 regular-season conference championships as a Pac-12 member institution. There have been 21 NCAA Division I Softball Championships won by five different Pac-12 Conference member schools in the tournament's 40-year history, which leads all conferences (UCLA - 9, Arizona - 8, Arizona State - 2, Washington - 1, California - 1).
Preseason Recognition
Redshirt seniors Maya Brady and Sharlize Palacios and sophomores Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List, as announced in January. UCLA ranked second in terms of representation on the list, trailing only Oklahoma who had six players listed. Recognized as the most distinguished individual honor in NCAA Division I Softball, two Bruins have received the honor a total of three times. Rachel Garcia was a back-to-back winner of the award following the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and Stacey Nuveman won the award in 2002. Additionally, Brady, Palacios, Grant and Woolery were selected to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team.
Quick Hits
· UCLA is 20-8 on the season and 6-2 in Pac-12 play with series sweeps over Utah and No. 24 Oregon.
· The Bruins are third in the Pac-12 standings and two games back of first-place No. 8 Stanford (28-6, 8-1 Pac-12).
· RS Sr. Maya Brady leads UCLA with a .407 average, 35 runs batted in, 26 runs scored and nine home runs.
· For the second straight year, Brady is leading the Pac-12 in slugging percentage with an .826 mark.
· RS Sr. Sharlize Palacios is second on the team with eight home runs.
· Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list (63). She has two multi-homer games this season.
· Fr. Kaitlyn Terry owns a perfect 9-0 record and leads UCLA with a 2.21 earned run average two months into the season.
· Terry has hauled in two Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards this season.
· Kelly Inouye-Perez is five wins away from 800 in her head coaching career.
· So. Taylor Tinsley has started the most games in the circle for UCLA (14) and recorded an 8-7 record and 2.52 ERA.
· The Bruins were picked to finish second in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll (did not receive a first-place vote).
· UCLA won its 12th Pac-12 regular-season championship in 2023 with a 21-3 record (17th overall conference title).
· Four Bruins were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List: Maya Brady, Sharlize Palacios, Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.
Last Week
UCLA won both of its games versus Oregon at Easton Stadium last week before the series finale was canceled due to rain.
Game One (W, 5-3): The Ducks tied the game, 3-3, in the top of the sixth on a double by Emma Kauf and subsequent error on Janelle Meoño's throw back into the infield which went wide of the cutoff. UCLA wasted no time regaining its lead in the bottom half of the sixth. A single by Woolery and four-pitch walk to Grant to leadoff the inning allowed Thessa Malau'ulu to move their two pinch runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. After whiffing on two off-speed pitches, pinch hitter Ramsey Suarez smoked the 0-2 delivery over the left fielder's head to score the two game-winning runs.
Game Two (W, 6-3): Grant's fourth-inning grand slam provided a five-run cushion that UCLA rode in its game-two victory. Grant's bases-loaded big fly came in a one-run ballgame after Oregon cut into UCLA's lead in the third inning.
Brady Heating Up
Maya Brady is building up her Player of the Year candidacy again in 2024. Over the last 10 games, Brady paces the Bruins' offense with a .483 average, 14 RBI, four home runs, seven extra-base hits and 1.000 slugging percentage. Brady leads the Pac-12 with an .826 slugging percentage through 28 games this season; she led the Pac-12 in slugging last season with an .866 mark.
· Brady has hit safely in all eight Pac-12 games this season (13-for-24, .542 avg.) and homered at least once in all three conference series this season. She notched her second two-homer game of the season and eighth of her career in the series finale at then-No. 8 Washington on March 24.
· In conference play, Brady leads the Pac-12 with a .542 batting average (13-for-24), five home runs, .621 on-base percentage and 1.250 slugging percentage over UCLA's eight games.
· The shortstop has shored up on the defensive side of the ball as well with just one error in the month of March (16 games). Brady's fielding percentage has increased 88 points over the month of March from .813 to .901. This season marks Brady's second campaign as UCLA's starting shortstop. She took over the role full-time on March 3, 2023 after Seneca Curo sustained a season-ending injury. She has started at shortstop in 76 career games.
· In 2023, Brady was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 3 Finalist in addition to being a consensus First Team All-American. Brady led UCLA with a .448 average, 18 home runs, 59 RBI, 63 runs scored, 33 extra-base hits and 149 total bases last season.
Brady in the Record Books
Career Home Runs: Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list with 63. Although she won't touch Stacey Nuveman's program record (90 HR), Brady needs four home runs to pass Stephany LaRosa (2012-15) with 66 career home runs for second all-time. Brady's two-homer game versus Washington on March 24 pushed her passed Tairia Mims (2000-03) and Delaney Spaulding (2014-17) with 61 career homers.
Career Two-Homer Games: Brady's two homers against the Huskies on March 24 marked the eighth multi-homer game of her career which is the third most by a Bruin in UCLA history. She moved out of a tie with LaRosa and B.B. Bates (2010-13) with seven. Andrea Harrison (2009-12) ranks second in UCLA history with nine multi-homer games while Stacey Nuveman is first with 12.
Career RBI: Brady became the seventh Bruin to reach 200 career RBI with her grand slam in the second inning of UCLA's 12-1 victory over Utah on March 10. Brady is up to 213 RBI in her career and needs one more to surpass Aaliyah Jordan (2018-23) for fifth on UCLA's all-time list.
Career Runs Scored: Brady has tallied 196 career runs scored and needs four more runs to pass Katie Schroeder's (2008-12) mark of 199 for fourth place on UCLA's all-time list.
Career Slugging Percentage: Brady's career slugging percentage keeps ballooning every week. Her current career mark sits at .753 ranks third all-time in UCLA history and is two points shy of passing LaRosa's .755 slugging percentage.
Palacios Power
Redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios is enjoying her best season yet in Westwood with eight home runs, 24 RBI and a .722 slugging percentage. Palacios earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career on March 11 after going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam during UCLA's bye week contests versus Rutgers and LMU. Defensively, behind the dish, Palacios has yet to commit an error and has thrown out five runners attempting to steal. Her most recent victim was in game three at Washington on March 24 in a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.
Young Arms
UCLA has relied solely on sophomore Taylor Tinsley and freshman Kaitlyn Terry in the circle the last three weekends. The two underclassmen have pitched all 43.0 innings in the Bruins' last seven games. The young duo has shown consistent growth and flashes of brilliance throughout the season. Tinsley served as UCLA's opening starter in the first seven weeks of the season, but Terry took the starting role in game one of the Oregon series last week.
· Tinsley's best week of the season came at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Feb. 23-25) where she allowed just two earned runs and pitched three complete-games. She helped the Bruins to two ranked wins over then-No. 24 Northwestern and then-No. 5 Tennessee which earned her Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time in her career.
· Terry was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks (March 18 & 25). The southpaw put forth her most dominant outing of the season with a complete-game shutout in game three at Washington on March 24. She needed just 81 pitches, limiting the Huskies to two hits and a walk. Terry's performance marked the first shutout by a UCLA freshman versus a top-10 opponent since April 7, 2017, when Rachel Garcia shutout then-No. 1 Oregon. Terry retired the last 11 Huskies of the game and flashed the leather in the fourth inning, starting a 1-6-3 double play. Including her relief outing in game one, Terry allowed just one earned run over 12.1 innings in the series. Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2. The 12 strikeouts are tied with Megan Faraimo (2019) and Rachel Garcia (2017) for the most by a Bruins' freshman over the last 15 years. Donna Kerr was the last UCLA freshman to rack up 12+ strikeouts, recording 15 in a win over Northwestern on March 9, 2008.
Coach I Nearing 800 Wins
Head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 795-205-1 record and is five wins away from win No. 800 in her career. Inouye-Perez would join UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers and her two predecessors Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist in the 800 win club. Enquist leads UCLA's triad of head coaches with 887 career head coaching wins while Backus owns 854 such wins. Inouye-Perez was coached by both Backus and Enquist in her time as a catcher on the Bruins' roster from 1989-93 and later coached alongside Backus and Enquist as an assistant upon graduating. Only one active Pac-12 head coach has achieved 800 career wins: Heather Tarr at Washington.
In the Polls
· UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 12 both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and ESPN/USA Softball Poll, marking UCLA's highest ranking since this year's preseason polls.
· In addition, the Bruins have been slotted in the No. 2 spot in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office on Feb. 1. Stanford was selected as the league's preseason favorite, garnering seven of nine first-place votes. Washington and Utah each received one first-place vote.
Key Notes About the Bruins
· The Bruins have returned seven key pieces from last season's batting lineup: redshirt seniors Maya Brady, Sharlize Palacios, Janelle Meoño and Seneca Curo, junior Savannah Pola and sophomores Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery. They return one arm from last season's pitching staff: sophomore Taylor Tinsley. UCLA has added seven incoming student-athletes with three transfers and four freshmen.
· Kelly Inouye-Perez enters her 18th season as the Bruins' head coach (The Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach). Including her five years as a catcher on UCLA's roster, 13 years as an assistant coach and 17 years as head coach, the 2024 season marks Inouye-Perez's 36th consecutive season in Westwood. Known as "Coach I," Inouye-Perez is the only person to have won a NCAA Division I Softball Championship as both a player and coach. She led the Bruins to two NCAA Championships as head coach in 2010 and 2019. Inouye-Perez owns a 795-205-1 (.794) career record. Her .797 winning percentage entering the season ranks second among active head coaches and seventh all-time. UCLA's first two Hall-of-Fame head coaches, Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist, rank top two all-time in winning percentage.
Oregon State Series History
UCLA leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 112-15, dating back to 1985. The Bruins have won 15 straight games against the Beavers, sweeping the last five season series. UCLA last lost to Oregon State in 2017 which occurred in Corvallis, Ore. Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 41-7 record (.854) against Oregon State in her previous 17 seasons as head coach.
The Series Last Year: The Bruins out scored the Beavers, 23-2, in last season's series sweep of Oregon State. Jordan Woolery recorded the first two-homer game of her career in the game one on April 6, and homered three total times in the series. Maya Brady and Sharlize Palacios also left the yard in the series. Savannah Pola and Megan Grant led the Bruins with five hits apiece over the three games.
Kirk Walker's Success at Oregon State
After 11 seasons as an assistant at UCLA from 1984-94, Kirk Walker spent 18 seasons as the head coach at Oregon State from 1995-2012 before returning to Westwood. Walker, a two-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the Beavers, is the all-time winningest coach in Oregon State softball history and fifth-winningest in Oregon State history regardless of sport. Walker posted a 594-490-3 record (.548) and eight seasons with at least 40 wins while at the helm in Corvallis. In 2006, Walker led the Beavers to their first appearance at the Women's College World Series. In 2005, Walker was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the second time in his career (1999) after guiding Oregon State to a 43-16 record and its first Pac-10 Championship, which was also the first regular-season Pac-10 title for any Beavers women's sports program.
Chef is Cooking
Megan Grant's fourth-inning grand slam versus Oregon on March 29 marked her third big fly of the season and first since March 2 versus DePaul. Grant now has two grand slams to her name, including her shot at then-No. 24 Arizona in April 2023. This season, Grant ranks second on the squad with a .386 batting average and 32 hits.
Grant was a NFCA Second Team All-American, NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 10 Finalist and All-Pac-12 First Team selection last season. The Bay Area native led the squad with 14 doubles and ranked second with 15 homers, 58 RBI, 31 extra-base hits and .695 slugging percentage. She ranked second among all freshman in the NCAA and led all Pac-12 freshmen with 58 RBI. Grant turned it up in conference play last season with a .403 batting average.
UCLA in Pinch Hitting Situations
The Bruins are batting .407 (11-for-27) in pinch hitting situations this season. Six different players have been called upon to pinch hit. Ramsey Suarez, Madison Pacini and Taylor Stephens each have recorded three hits off the bench. Suarez reached twice during the Oregon series (March 28-29) on two pinch-hit singles. Her two-RBI single in the bottom of the sixth in game one versus the Ducks on March 28 proved to be the difference in a 5-3 win. Stephens owns UCLA's only pinch-hit homer of the season, occurring versus Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2.
Allchin: Clutch Gene
· Jadelyn Allchin, a graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23), has provided clutch hits for the Bruins. In the fifth inning or later this season, Allchin is batting for a .448 average (13-for-29) with nine RBI and 11 runs scored. On March 12 versus Rutgers, Allchin delivered a walk-off single. Three days prior to that, Allchin played the hero in game two of UCLA's home series with Utah by knocking in the game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. At the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Allchin doubled in a run to spark a five-run seventh inning to help UCLA walk-off on Nebraska on Feb. 23.
· Allchin has been a mainstay in the top half of the Bruins' lineup the last month. In the Bruins' two games versus Oregon last week, Allchin went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and a triple. Allchin swiped two bases in game two versus Oregon on March 29, marking the first time this season a Bruin has stole more than one base in a game. In 2024, she is one of seven everyday UCLA starters batting above .300 (.308 avg.). Defensively, Allchin has recorded two outfield assists this season: one from left field in the Bruins' 6-2 win over Tennessee on Feb. 25. and one from center field against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11. She has totaled five outfield assists in her career.
Malau'ulu Producing at the Bottom of the Lineup
Senior infielder Thessa Malau'ulu is enjoying the best season of her career in 2024. After missing the entirety of the 2023 season due to injury, Malau'ulu has produced at the bottom of the Bruins' lineup with a .340 batting average, five doubles and 11 RBI after entering the season with just 10 RBI in her previous two seasons. She also sports a .438 on-base percentage, which is up 89 points from her previous career high of .349 set in her freshman 2021 season.
Notes on Taylor Tinsley
Sophomore Taylor Tinsley has shown consistent improvement since week one of the 2024 season in her new role as UCLA's ace. This season, Tinsley owns a 2.52 ERA and 93 strikeouts over 83.1 innings pitched after totaling just 57.1 innings of work in all of last season in her All-Pac-12 Freshman Team campaign. Tinsley was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 26 following her performances at the Mary Nutter Classic.
at the Mary Nutter: Tinsley allowed just two earned runs across three complete-game performances and 22.0 total innings pitched at the Mary Nutter. Among all the pitchers competing at the Mary Nutter (30 teams participating), Tinsley ranked first in innings pitched (22.0) and strikeouts looking (10) and tied for first in strikeouts (30).
vs. Utah: Tinsley picked up two wins, struck out 16 batters and did not allow an earned run over 10.2 innings to help the Bruins to a series sweep of Utah (March 8-10). In her game one victory, Tinsley threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball and allowed only one base runner into scoring position. She finished her outing with nine strikeouts and surrendered just two hits. She limited the Pac-12 batting average leader entering the series, Haley Denning, to 0-for-6 with two Ks.
vs. Oregon: Tinsley allowed just one earned run and was the winning pitcher in both of UCLA's two games versus Oregon (March 28-29). In game one of the series, Tinsley entered in relief and got the Bruins out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning with a strikeout. She retired the Ducks in order in the seventh on just six pitches to close the game. Tinsley turned in 4.0 solid innings in her game-two start, allowing just one run.
Notable Trends
Walk-Offs: UCLA has three walk-off wins in the seventh inning through 28 games this season.
Coming From Behind: UCLA's opponents have scored first in 16 of its 28 games this season. The Bruins own a 9-7 record in games where their opponent scores first. In 2023, UCLA's opponents scored first in only 13 of its 59 total games. Additionally, UCLA's opponents have scored in the first inning 11 times this season compared to last season in which opponents scored in the first inning only eight times in 59 total games.
Perfect vs. the Big Ten
UCLA went a perfect 6-0 versus its scheduled Big Ten Conference opponents this season with wins over Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan and Rutgers. UCLA Athletics announced its decision to join the Big Ten Conference on June 30, 2022. This move will go into effect at the start of the 2024-25 season.
Celebrating the Greatest Softball Conference of All-Time
The 2024 season marks UCLA's final as a member of the Pac-10/12 Conference. UCLA softball has been a member of the conference since 1987 (37 years) and has won 12 regular-season conference championships as a Pac-12 member institution. There have been 21 NCAA Division I Softball Championships won by five different Pac-12 Conference member schools in the tournament's 40-year history, which leads all conferences (UCLA - 9, Arizona - 8, Arizona State - 2, Washington - 1, California - 1).
Preseason Recognition
Redshirt seniors Maya Brady and Sharlize Palacios and sophomores Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List, as announced in January. UCLA ranked second in terms of representation on the list, trailing only Oklahoma who had six players listed. Recognized as the most distinguished individual honor in NCAA Division I Softball, two Bruins have received the honor a total of three times. Rachel Garcia was a back-to-back winner of the award following the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and Stacey Nuveman won the award in 2002. Additionally, Brady, Palacios, Grant and Woolery were selected to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team.