Friday, March 8
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
vs
Utah
L-r: Taylor Stephens and Jadelyn Allchin
Photo by: Marie Goldfarb
No. 16 Softball Returns Home to Open Pac-12 Play
March 07, 2024 | Softball
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 16 UCLA softball team begins Pac-12 Conference play at Easton Stadium this week with a three-game series versus Utah from March 8-10. This marks the Bruins' (11-6) first home games in over a month. UCLA will be honoring the 40th and 20th anniversaries of its 1984 and 2004 NCAA Championship teams on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
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The Bruins play the Utes (14-6) Friday at 7 p.m. (PT), Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m. All three games are available for viewing on the UCLA Livestream.
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Celebrating the 1984 and 2004 NCAA Championship Teams
UCLA will be honoring its 1984 NCAA Championship team Saturday and 2004 NCAA Championship team Sunday as part of its yearly "alumni weekend" celebration. Below are some notes about each of the championship teams.
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The 1984 UCLA Bruins
ยท Record: 45-6-1
ยท Championships Won: NCAA, WCAA
ยท Head Coach: Sharron Backus (8th year)
ยท UCLA's second NCAA Championship and third national championship (won the 1978 AIAW title).
ยท Tracy Compton and Debbie Doom, arguably the greatest pitching duo in college softball history, combined for 39 shutouts, 441 strikeouts and a 0.18 ERA to lead UCLA to the 1984 NCAA title.
ยท UCLA defeated Texas A&M in back-to-back games on May 29 to win the 1984 NCAA Championship. UCLA won the national title on a walk-off home run by All-American Tricia Mang in the bottom of the 13th inning in game two.
ยท Compton and Doom allowed just two runs and recorded seven shutouts in eight games at the Women's College World Series. Both are UCLA WCWS records.
ยท Compton and Doom combined to throw five no-hitters in 1984, which ranks tied for sixth most in a single season in program history.
ยท Doom recorded the two longest single-season scoreless innings streaks in UCLA history in 1984. Doom threw a program-record 88.1 straight scoreless innings, and after allowing a run, followed with 72.0 straight scoreless innings.
ยท Doom tied her program record for strikeouts in a single game in 1984, striking out 25 batters at Long Beach State on April 10.
ยท UCLA went on to win the 1985 NCAA Championship the next season, becoming the first team to repeat NCAA Division I Softball titles.
ยท Mang led UCLA with a .376 batting average, 19 runs batted in, seven home runs and 67 hits in 1984.
ยท 1984 marked current UCLA Associate Head Coach Kirk Walker's first year with the program; it was his freshman year at UCLA and he was the team manager.
ย
The 2004 UCLA Bruins
ยท Record: 47-9
ยท Championships Won: NCAA
ยท Head Coach: Sue Enquist (16th year)
ยท UCLA's 10th NCAA Championship and 11th national championship (won the 1978 AIAW title).
ยท 2004 marked current UCLA Head Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez's 10th year on staff in her role as assistant coach. Current UCLA Associate Head Coach Lisa Fernandez was on staff in her role as volunteer assistant coach.
ยท 2004 marked the back half of UCLA's back-to-back NCAA titles in 2003 and 2004.
ยท UCLA turned it on at the end of the regular season, winning their final five games and adding a perfect 8-0 postseason record for a 13-0 finish.
ยท Sophomore All-American Caitlyn Benyi led the NCAA with 24 home runs, adding 43 runs batted in and a team-leading .379 batting average.
ยท All-American Keira Goerl closed her outstanding senior season, going 31-7 with a 1.02 ERA and 276 strikeouts.
ยท UCLA squared off with California in the NCAA title game for the second straight year. After the Golden Bears took an early 1-0 lead, the Bruins rallied in the fifth inning with a lead-off home run by Claire Sua to tie the game. Kristen Dedmon came off the bench and recorded a pinch-hit single to score a pair later in the inning. Goerl held California off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.
ยท Goerl established UCLA's career records in wins (130), innings pitched (1017.2) and complete games (135) in 2004.
ย
Quick Hits
ยท UCLA concluded its "tournament season" schedule with an 11-6 record and a pair of top-10 wins over then-No. 7 Florida State at the Clearwater Invitational and then-No. 5 Tennessee at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
ยท UCLA went 4-1 with three run-rule victories in its most recent tournament at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton. The Bruins' lone loss was a one-run affair at the hands of then-No. 13 Florida.
ยท Redshirt senior outfielder Janelle Meoño enters the week as UCLA's batting average leader with a .500 clip in 13 games played this season. Meoño re-entered the starting lineup on Feb. 24 versus Baylor at the Mary Nutter Classic. In that span of seven games, Meoño leads UCLA with a .529 batting average (9-for-17), seven runs scored and a .600 on-base percentage.
ยท UCLA is led in the circle by its young duo of sophomore Taylor Tinsley and freshman Kaitlyn Terry. Tinsley leads UCLA with 64 strikeouts over 55.0 innings pitched while Terry sports a team-best 1.80 earned run average over 35.0 innings.
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Key Notes About the Bruins
ยท 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.
ยท Last season, UCLA went 52-7 and made a NCAA Tournament appearance for the 24th consecutive year which is the longest active streak among all programs. The No. 2 seed Bruins lost in the NCAA Regional round (0-2), marking the first time in seven years they did not reach the Women's College World Series. It was the first time in 10 years UCLA did not make it out of Regionals.
ยท 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 an 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 786-203-1 (.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.
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In the Polls
ยท UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 16 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll.
ยท 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.
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Utah Series History
UCLA leads the all-time series versus Utah, 45-8, dating back to 1978. The Bruins have dropped a contest to the Utes in each of the last two seasons. Most recently, UCLA lost to Utah, 7-4, in the inaugural 2023 Pac-12 Tournament Championship game at Rita Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson, Arizona last May. UCLA swept the regular-season series at Utah, out-scoring the Utes, 24-4. Then-freshman Jordan Woolery recorded a .667 batting average (6-for-9) to lead the Bruins in that series. The series victory clinched UCLA's 17th conference banner, and for just the second time in the last 20 years, the Bruins took the season series against all eight Pac-12 opponents (2021). Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 30-7 record versus Utah in her tenure as head coach.
ย
Palacios Power
Catcher Sharlize Palacios has homered five times in UCLA's last six games. Palacios, the Bruins' home runs (5) and slugging percentage (.733) leader, recorded the fourth multi-homer game of her career and first in a UCLA uniform versus Tennessee at the Mary Nutter Classic on Feb. 25. Last week at the Judi Garman Classic, Palacios homered a team-best three times. The redshirt senior has started all 17 games, including 14 behind the dish.
ย
The Spark Plug
Outfielder Janelle Meoño enters the week as UCLA's batting average leader with a .500 clip in 13 games played this season. Meoño re-entered the starting lineup on Feb. 24 versus Baylor at the Mary Nutter Classic. Since then (seven games), Meoño leads UCLA with a .529 batting average (9-for-17), seven runs scored and a .600 on-base percentage. Last week in the fifth inning against San Jose State, Meoño ignited the Bruins' offense by reaching base on an infield single to shortstop. Over the next four pitches, Meoño stole second base, advanced to third base on a fly ball to center field and tagged up from third on a sacrifice fly to tie up the game, 1-1. Meoño batted lead-off for the first time this season in UCLA's last game versus San Jose State.
ย
Pair of Young Aces
UCLA's young pitching duo of Taylor Tinsley and Kaitlyn Terry has made significant strides at the Mary Nutter Classic and Judi Garman Classic the last two weeks. Over the last 10 games, the two have combined for three shutouts, allowed just six earned runs for a 0.75 earned run average and have averaged 8.70 strikeouts per seven innings. 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. 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).
ย
Standout Performance for Terry
Freshman Kaitlyn Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State last Saturday. 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.
ย
Chef is in the Kitchen
Sophomore Megan Grant blasted her first two home runs of the season at the Judi Garman Classic last week in addition to leading the Bruins with a .533 batting average (8-for-15), four extra-base hits, two doubles, seven RBI, 16 total bases and a 1.067 slugging percentage.
ย
Allchin's Cannon
Outfielder Jadelyn Allchin has had a stellar start to her UCLA career. The graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23) 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. With the Lady Vols rallying in the top of the third, Allchin gunned down Kiki Milloy attempting to score from second base with a no-hop, bullet throw from left field to Sharlize Palacios at home plate. It was the fifth outfield assist of her career. She now has five career outfield assists.
ย
Celebrating the Greatest Softball Conference
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 11 regular-season conference championships as a Pac-12-member institution. UCLA also won the 1986 Pac-West Conference title. 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).
ย
Bless Ya, Thessa
Senior infielder Thessa Malau'ulu is enjoying her best start to a season in her career. After missing the entirety of the 2023 season due to an injury, Malau'ulu has produced at the bottom of the Bruins' lineup with a .333 batting average, good for fourth on the team. She also sports a .436 on-base percentage and has notched three doubles.
ย
ย
The Bruins play the Utes (14-6) Friday at 7 p.m. (PT), Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m. All three games are available for viewing on the UCLA Livestream.
ย
Celebrating the 1984 and 2004 NCAA Championship Teams
UCLA will be honoring its 1984 NCAA Championship team Saturday and 2004 NCAA Championship team Sunday as part of its yearly "alumni weekend" celebration. Below are some notes about each of the championship teams.
ย
The 1984 UCLA Bruins
ยท Record: 45-6-1
ยท Championships Won: NCAA, WCAA
ยท Head Coach: Sharron Backus (8th year)
ยท UCLA's second NCAA Championship and third national championship (won the 1978 AIAW title).
ยท Tracy Compton and Debbie Doom, arguably the greatest pitching duo in college softball history, combined for 39 shutouts, 441 strikeouts and a 0.18 ERA to lead UCLA to the 1984 NCAA title.
ยท UCLA defeated Texas A&M in back-to-back games on May 29 to win the 1984 NCAA Championship. UCLA won the national title on a walk-off home run by All-American Tricia Mang in the bottom of the 13th inning in game two.
ยท Compton and Doom allowed just two runs and recorded seven shutouts in eight games at the Women's College World Series. Both are UCLA WCWS records.
ยท Compton and Doom combined to throw five no-hitters in 1984, which ranks tied for sixth most in a single season in program history.
ยท Doom recorded the two longest single-season scoreless innings streaks in UCLA history in 1984. Doom threw a program-record 88.1 straight scoreless innings, and after allowing a run, followed with 72.0 straight scoreless innings.
ยท Doom tied her program record for strikeouts in a single game in 1984, striking out 25 batters at Long Beach State on April 10.
ยท UCLA went on to win the 1985 NCAA Championship the next season, becoming the first team to repeat NCAA Division I Softball titles.
ยท Mang led UCLA with a .376 batting average, 19 runs batted in, seven home runs and 67 hits in 1984.
ยท 1984 marked current UCLA Associate Head Coach Kirk Walker's first year with the program; it was his freshman year at UCLA and he was the team manager.
ย
The 2004 UCLA Bruins
ยท Record: 47-9
ยท Championships Won: NCAA
ยท Head Coach: Sue Enquist (16th year)
ยท UCLA's 10th NCAA Championship and 11th national championship (won the 1978 AIAW title).
ยท 2004 marked current UCLA Head Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez's 10th year on staff in her role as assistant coach. Current UCLA Associate Head Coach Lisa Fernandez was on staff in her role as volunteer assistant coach.
ยท 2004 marked the back half of UCLA's back-to-back NCAA titles in 2003 and 2004.
ยท UCLA turned it on at the end of the regular season, winning their final five games and adding a perfect 8-0 postseason record for a 13-0 finish.
ยท Sophomore All-American Caitlyn Benyi led the NCAA with 24 home runs, adding 43 runs batted in and a team-leading .379 batting average.
ยท All-American Keira Goerl closed her outstanding senior season, going 31-7 with a 1.02 ERA and 276 strikeouts.
ยท UCLA squared off with California in the NCAA title game for the second straight year. After the Golden Bears took an early 1-0 lead, the Bruins rallied in the fifth inning with a lead-off home run by Claire Sua to tie the game. Kristen Dedmon came off the bench and recorded a pinch-hit single to score a pair later in the inning. Goerl held California off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.
ยท Goerl established UCLA's career records in wins (130), innings pitched (1017.2) and complete games (135) in 2004.
ย
Quick Hits
ยท UCLA concluded its "tournament season" schedule with an 11-6 record and a pair of top-10 wins over then-No. 7 Florida State at the Clearwater Invitational and then-No. 5 Tennessee at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
ยท UCLA went 4-1 with three run-rule victories in its most recent tournament at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton. The Bruins' lone loss was a one-run affair at the hands of then-No. 13 Florida.
ยท Redshirt senior outfielder Janelle Meoño enters the week as UCLA's batting average leader with a .500 clip in 13 games played this season. Meoño re-entered the starting lineup on Feb. 24 versus Baylor at the Mary Nutter Classic. In that span of seven games, Meoño leads UCLA with a .529 batting average (9-for-17), seven runs scored and a .600 on-base percentage.
ยท UCLA is led in the circle by its young duo of sophomore Taylor Tinsley and freshman Kaitlyn Terry. Tinsley leads UCLA with 64 strikeouts over 55.0 innings pitched while Terry sports a team-best 1.80 earned run average over 35.0 innings.
ย
Key Notes About the Bruins
ยท 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.
ยท Last season, UCLA went 52-7 and made a NCAA Tournament appearance for the 24th consecutive year which is the longest active streak among all programs. The No. 2 seed Bruins lost in the NCAA Regional round (0-2), marking the first time in seven years they did not reach the Women's College World Series. It was the first time in 10 years UCLA did not make it out of Regionals.
ยท 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 an 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 786-203-1 (.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.
ย
In the Polls
ยท UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 16 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll.
ยท 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.
ย
Utah Series History
UCLA leads the all-time series versus Utah, 45-8, dating back to 1978. The Bruins have dropped a contest to the Utes in each of the last two seasons. Most recently, UCLA lost to Utah, 7-4, in the inaugural 2023 Pac-12 Tournament Championship game at Rita Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson, Arizona last May. UCLA swept the regular-season series at Utah, out-scoring the Utes, 24-4. Then-freshman Jordan Woolery recorded a .667 batting average (6-for-9) to lead the Bruins in that series. The series victory clinched UCLA's 17th conference banner, and for just the second time in the last 20 years, the Bruins took the season series against all eight Pac-12 opponents (2021). Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 30-7 record versus Utah in her tenure as head coach.
ย
Palacios Power
Catcher Sharlize Palacios has homered five times in UCLA's last six games. Palacios, the Bruins' home runs (5) and slugging percentage (.733) leader, recorded the fourth multi-homer game of her career and first in a UCLA uniform versus Tennessee at the Mary Nutter Classic on Feb. 25. Last week at the Judi Garman Classic, Palacios homered a team-best three times. The redshirt senior has started all 17 games, including 14 behind the dish.
ย
The Spark Plug
Outfielder Janelle Meoño enters the week as UCLA's batting average leader with a .500 clip in 13 games played this season. Meoño re-entered the starting lineup on Feb. 24 versus Baylor at the Mary Nutter Classic. Since then (seven games), Meoño leads UCLA with a .529 batting average (9-for-17), seven runs scored and a .600 on-base percentage. Last week in the fifth inning against San Jose State, Meoño ignited the Bruins' offense by reaching base on an infield single to shortstop. Over the next four pitches, Meoño stole second base, advanced to third base on a fly ball to center field and tagged up from third on a sacrifice fly to tie up the game, 1-1. Meoño batted lead-off for the first time this season in UCLA's last game versus San Jose State.
ย
Pair of Young Aces
UCLA's young pitching duo of Taylor Tinsley and Kaitlyn Terry has made significant strides at the Mary Nutter Classic and Judi Garman Classic the last two weeks. Over the last 10 games, the two have combined for three shutouts, allowed just six earned runs for a 0.75 earned run average and have averaged 8.70 strikeouts per seven innings. 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. 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).
ย
Standout Performance for Terry
Freshman Kaitlyn Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State last Saturday. 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.
ย
Chef is in the Kitchen
Sophomore Megan Grant blasted her first two home runs of the season at the Judi Garman Classic last week in addition to leading the Bruins with a .533 batting average (8-for-15), four extra-base hits, two doubles, seven RBI, 16 total bases and a 1.067 slugging percentage.
ย
Allchin's Cannon
Outfielder Jadelyn Allchin has had a stellar start to her UCLA career. The graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23) 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. With the Lady Vols rallying in the top of the third, Allchin gunned down Kiki Milloy attempting to score from second base with a no-hop, bullet throw from left field to Sharlize Palacios at home plate. It was the fifth outfield assist of her career. She now has five career outfield assists.
ย
Celebrating the Greatest Softball Conference
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 11 regular-season conference championships as a Pac-12-member institution. UCLA also won the 1986 Pac-West Conference title. 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).
ย
Bless Ya, Thessa
Senior infielder Thessa Malau'ulu is enjoying her best start to a season in her career. After missing the entirety of the 2023 season due to an injury, Malau'ulu has produced at the bottom of the Bruins' lineup with a .333 batting average, good for fourth on the team. She also sports a .436 on-base percentage and has notched three doubles.
ย
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P/1B
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
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