Postgame Quotes - UCLA 12, UC Santa Barbara 1
UCLA 12, UC Santa Barbara 1 (5 inn.)
May 18, 2025
Easton Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
NCAA Los Angeles Regional
Kelly Inouye-Perez, The Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach
opening statement
“As always, you respect every opponent you play, but I have so much respect for Jo Evans and what she’s done. I’ve said it before on Friday, but I’m going to say it again, she’s a class act and a great coach, and she’s doing some great things. Some firsts are happening over there at Santa Barbara. For my Bruins, the ability to come out and play with intention, to be able to take it today. They were clearly on a mission. We had a saying, “our best is yet to come”, and I feel really good about how they came out today. They played together, everyone had a piece, we got to get some seniors into the game. You can see that UCLA Softball is focused on playing their best ball and I believe that we’re doing that. A lot of great things happened today and I can’t just say one, and it’s because they’re playing together, that’s the bottom line.”
on what makes this group different from previous years
“Every year is different, and I think that the bottom line is that we had so many people step up. What’s different this year is that [Woolery and Grant] are the leadership group this year. They’ve done a great job of taking care of the program and leading by example on the field and off of the field. My leaders up here were freshman just a little bit ago, and now they’re doing their best to take care of UCLA Softball. To me, that’s why this group is so successful; they have a lot of pride in the program and taking care of it. Getting to be in a Super Regional never gets old. This is the goal, to be able to get there.”
on preparing to travel for Super Regionals
“We’ve surrendered to what we want to do, which is to play every goal at home. The roadmap has been different, but UCLA softball has gone to South Carolina for a regional. The bottom line is, wherever we’re going to go, we’re going to stick together. We’ve been able to experience a lot on the road and at home. As long as we’re together, that’s our goal; to stick together as one.”
on the team’s hitting coaches
“Our goal is always to come out and score in the first. Leadoffs are big and for these guys to be able to pick up their RBIs was really impressive. Even more so, there was a regrouping. The coaching staff and the players came together and recommitted. And then (Woolery and Grant) literally go and hit back-to-back home runs. To me, the most exciting part about where we are going. TO be able to regroup and see what they did was exciting for what’s to come. We want to score early and we want to score throughout the ball game. They did that today, and they didn’t let up. That’s a big part of what we need to do right now in the postseason.”
on playing the seniors in their final home game
“We were fortunate, this doesn’t happen often, that you get to make sure that the seniors play in the last home game of our season. Credit to (Ramirez, Woolery, and Grant) for taking care of business to make it possible and to let everyone get into the game. Kate Blunt got into the game, Jayla Castro got to play, Jada Cecil got into the game, and Seneca Curo, who has been a big part of UCLA Softball and went down with injury this year. She hasn’t been able to do what she wanted to do this year, but she’s still been a leader. For her to have that opportunity for her last game was special.”
on the pairing of Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant
“The goal is to come to UCLA Softball and play with some of the best who have played and to leave your mark. Those two have definitely left their mark. And the best part is that they’re only juniors. We learned another quick fact yesterday about our Smash Brothers: not only are they leading in RBIs, but they happened to both hit triples yesterday, and I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen that in the history of UCLA. Credit to UCLA Softball, but credit to them for leaving their mark in the record book.”
UCLA infielder Jordan Woolery
on recording a record 28 mercy rule wins this season
“Yeah, just credit to coach Lisa, Will, and Bubba. They’re holding down our offense, and we have a great support staff behind us, so it just makes our job easy at the plate, and we know what to do.”
on the team’s strong start in the first inning
“I think just credit to Jess (Clements) and Sav (Pola), honestly, they set the table really well for all of us, and I feel like they kind of get the momentum on our side from pitch one, so it’s really awesome hitting behind them.”
on the seniors playing in their final home game
“I think even with Sav (Pola) and Sen (Curo) too is really cool to see. I really feel like they’ve left their mark on this program, so just having them even set out at second for the last home game just meant a lot. Sen’s been by my side through my ups and downs at first base, especially in my first year, so having her back out there for that last inning is really special.”
on breaking the record for single-season RBIs for a UCLA duo alongside Megan Grant
“If Meg wasn’t awesome, I couldn’t be awesome, so I’m grateful to have her by my side.”
UCLA utility player Megan Grant
on recording a record 28 mercy rule wins this season
“I think as a team, we just keep our relentlessness through the whole game. We always talk about the word indomitable, and so we just tried to showcase that today, and I think as a collective we did that job.”
on the team’s strong start in the first inning
“Credit to Sav (Pola) and Jess (Clements), and then Jo (Woolery) just to continue on. They really set the tone, and it’s really easy to pass the bat in that sense.”
on the seniors playing in their final home game
“Oh my gosh, Jayla is one of the hardest workers in the room, and I was going to talk to Jess (Clements) too after her home run. It just made the moment so much more sweet, and I got a little teary, but I’m just so happy for them. We always said that it’s the last game [at home] and we want to make it the best one, so everything we do from this point on is for the seniors.”
on breaking the record for single-season RBIs for a UCLA duo alongside Jordan Woolery
“Oh my god, Smash Brothers! Jo, oh my god! I did not know that. Thank you Savi (Pola), thank you Maya Brady, thank you Jordan Woolery! I feel like it’s way more cherishable to do it together.”
UCLA catcher Alexis Ramirez
on recording a record 28 mercy-rule wins this season
“Credit to our pitching staff. We can score runs, but their ability to put up zeros is really impressive, and they’re just doing great work out there.”
on the team’s strong start in the first inning
“Yeah, our coaching staff, Coach Lisa and Bubba, and Will too, their ability to come up with a plan for us and then us executing and seeing the success from that plan is really encouraging.”
on senior Jada Cecil playing in her final home game
“I think Jada in the bullpen is so awesome. She’s such a hard worker, and everything she does behind the scenes is so unreal. She’s so competitive, so just to see her go out there at our last home game and give it her all and leave her mark is just awesome.”
May 18, 2025
Easton Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
NCAA Los Angeles Regional
Kelly Inouye-Perez, The Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach
opening statement
“As always, you respect every opponent you play, but I have so much respect for Jo Evans and what she’s done. I’ve said it before on Friday, but I’m going to say it again, she’s a class act and a great coach, and she’s doing some great things. Some firsts are happening over there at Santa Barbara. For my Bruins, the ability to come out and play with intention, to be able to take it today. They were clearly on a mission. We had a saying, “our best is yet to come”, and I feel really good about how they came out today. They played together, everyone had a piece, we got to get some seniors into the game. You can see that UCLA Softball is focused on playing their best ball and I believe that we’re doing that. A lot of great things happened today and I can’t just say one, and it’s because they’re playing together, that’s the bottom line.”
on what makes this group different from previous years
“Every year is different, and I think that the bottom line is that we had so many people step up. What’s different this year is that [Woolery and Grant] are the leadership group this year. They’ve done a great job of taking care of the program and leading by example on the field and off of the field. My leaders up here were freshman just a little bit ago, and now they’re doing their best to take care of UCLA Softball. To me, that’s why this group is so successful; they have a lot of pride in the program and taking care of it. Getting to be in a Super Regional never gets old. This is the goal, to be able to get there.”
on preparing to travel for Super Regionals
“We’ve surrendered to what we want to do, which is to play every goal at home. The roadmap has been different, but UCLA softball has gone to South Carolina for a regional. The bottom line is, wherever we’re going to go, we’re going to stick together. We’ve been able to experience a lot on the road and at home. As long as we’re together, that’s our goal; to stick together as one.”
on the team’s hitting coaches
“Our goal is always to come out and score in the first. Leadoffs are big and for these guys to be able to pick up their RBIs was really impressive. Even more so, there was a regrouping. The coaching staff and the players came together and recommitted. And then (Woolery and Grant) literally go and hit back-to-back home runs. To me, the most exciting part about where we are going. TO be able to regroup and see what they did was exciting for what’s to come. We want to score early and we want to score throughout the ball game. They did that today, and they didn’t let up. That’s a big part of what we need to do right now in the postseason.”
on playing the seniors in their final home game
“We were fortunate, this doesn’t happen often, that you get to make sure that the seniors play in the last home game of our season. Credit to (Ramirez, Woolery, and Grant) for taking care of business to make it possible and to let everyone get into the game. Kate Blunt got into the game, Jayla Castro got to play, Jada Cecil got into the game, and Seneca Curo, who has been a big part of UCLA Softball and went down with injury this year. She hasn’t been able to do what she wanted to do this year, but she’s still been a leader. For her to have that opportunity for her last game was special.”
on the pairing of Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant
“The goal is to come to UCLA Softball and play with some of the best who have played and to leave your mark. Those two have definitely left their mark. And the best part is that they’re only juniors. We learned another quick fact yesterday about our Smash Brothers: not only are they leading in RBIs, but they happened to both hit triples yesterday, and I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen that in the history of UCLA. Credit to UCLA Softball, but credit to them for leaving their mark in the record book.”
UCLA infielder Jordan Woolery
on recording a record 28 mercy rule wins this season
“Yeah, just credit to coach Lisa, Will, and Bubba. They’re holding down our offense, and we have a great support staff behind us, so it just makes our job easy at the plate, and we know what to do.”
on the team’s strong start in the first inning
“I think just credit to Jess (Clements) and Sav (Pola), honestly, they set the table really well for all of us, and I feel like they kind of get the momentum on our side from pitch one, so it’s really awesome hitting behind them.”
on the seniors playing in their final home game
“I think even with Sav (Pola) and Sen (Curo) too is really cool to see. I really feel like they’ve left their mark on this program, so just having them even set out at second for the last home game just meant a lot. Sen’s been by my side through my ups and downs at first base, especially in my first year, so having her back out there for that last inning is really special.”
on breaking the record for single-season RBIs for a UCLA duo alongside Megan Grant
“If Meg wasn’t awesome, I couldn’t be awesome, so I’m grateful to have her by my side.”
UCLA utility player Megan Grant
on recording a record 28 mercy rule wins this season
“I think as a team, we just keep our relentlessness through the whole game. We always talk about the word indomitable, and so we just tried to showcase that today, and I think as a collective we did that job.”
on the team’s strong start in the first inning
“Credit to Sav (Pola) and Jess (Clements), and then Jo (Woolery) just to continue on. They really set the tone, and it’s really easy to pass the bat in that sense.”
on the seniors playing in their final home game
“Oh my gosh, Jayla is one of the hardest workers in the room, and I was going to talk to Jess (Clements) too after her home run. It just made the moment so much more sweet, and I got a little teary, but I’m just so happy for them. We always said that it’s the last game [at home] and we want to make it the best one, so everything we do from this point on is for the seniors.”
on breaking the record for single-season RBIs for a UCLA duo alongside Jordan Woolery
“Oh my god, Smash Brothers! Jo, oh my god! I did not know that. Thank you Savi (Pola), thank you Maya Brady, thank you Jordan Woolery! I feel like it’s way more cherishable to do it together.”
UCLA catcher Alexis Ramirez
on recording a record 28 mercy-rule wins this season
“Credit to our pitching staff. We can score runs, but their ability to put up zeros is really impressive, and they’re just doing great work out there.”
on the team’s strong start in the first inning
“Yeah, our coaching staff, Coach Lisa and Bubba, and Will too, their ability to come up with a plan for us and then us executing and seeing the success from that plan is really encouraging.”
on senior Jada Cecil playing in her final home game
“I think Jada in the bullpen is so awesome. She’s such a hard worker, and everything she does behind the scenes is so unreal. She’s so competitive, so just to see her go out there at our last home game and give it her all and leave her mark is just awesome.”