Madilyn Nickles-Camarena - Softball Coach

Madilyn Nickles-Camarena

Title:
Assistant Coach
Alma Mater:
UCLA, '21 / '24
Year at UCLA:
1st in 2025
Email:
mnickles@athletics.ucla.edu

Madilyn “Bubba” Nickles-Camarena, one of the most decorated hitters in UCLA softball history, completed her first year as an assistant on the Bruins’ staff in 2025. She spent one season as a graduate assistant coach on UCLA’s staff in 2024.

Nickles-Camarena helped guide UCLA to a second straight Women’s College World Series appearance and a 55-13 overall record in 2025. The Bruins finished runner-up in both the Big Ten regular season title race and Big Ten Tournament Championship in the school’s inaugural year as a member of the conference. Nickles-Camarena’s primary responsibilities were with the Bruins’ hitters and outfielders. Alongside associate head coach Lisa Fernandez, Nickles-Camarena aided one of the most high-powered offenses in the country, ranking top 10 nationally in runs scored (485), home runs (101) and slugging percentage (.591). The Bruins totaled 101 home runs, marking just the second time in program history a UCLA team had eclipsed the century mark. Additionally, UCLA set a program record with 28 mercy-rule victories and ranked second in the country with a +312 run differential.

The stars of the UCLA lineup were Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery who made up one of the most lethal slugging duos in the country. Grant set the Big Ten Conference single-season record and ranked second in UCLA single-season history with 26 home runs. Woolery joined Grant in the 20-homer club with 23 blasts, signaling just the second time a UCLA duo had each homered 20 times in the same year. Woolery finished the season with a nation-leading 86 runs batted in.

Three of Nickles-Camarena’s hitters were named NFCA All-Americans and All-Big Ten First Team selections in 2025. Grant and Woolery were tabbed as First Team All-Americans for the first time in their collegiate careers. Senior Savannah Pola received the first All-America recognition of her career being named to the Third Team after a breakout season as UCLA’s batting average leader (.428). Pola ranked second in the nation in hits (98) and fourth in runs scored (73).

Nickles-Camarena has succeeded on the sport's biggest stages as an athlete. In 2021, Nickles-Camarena was a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympic Games for Team USA, playing in two games and making one start in right field before returning to UCLA for the spring college season. Two years prior, she helped the Bruins to a record 12th NCAA Championship in 2019 as the team leader in hits (82), home runs (18), runs batted in (72) and slugging percentage (.714). Nickles-Camarena earned NFCA Second Team All-America honors in 2019 and finished her UCLA playing career as a three-time All-Pac-12 recipient.

Nickles-Camarena has played professionally in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) and its previous renditions as the Athletes Unlimited League and AUX for the past for years. In Summer 2025, Nickles-Camarena blasted seven home runs and played all 26 games while helping the Bandits to the AUSL Championship Series in the league’s inaugural year. The previous summer, Nickles-Camarena was crowned the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX Champion on the final day of the AUX. In three seasons of Athletes Unlimited Championship play, Nickles-Camarena recorded a career .289 batting average (50-for-173), 10 home runs and 44 RBI in 54 games (excludes AUX play).

Internationally, Nickles-Camarena competed with the Toyota Motor Company for two seasons, in 2022 and 2023, and won a Japan Diamond League Championship her final year. She ranked among league leaders with a .390 batting average during the 2022 campaign, hitting eight home runs and recording 22 RBI.

Nickles-Camarena was a four-year letterwinner at UCLA, starting 215 of 217 games played from 2017-2021. She finished her career with a .357 batting average (235-for-659), 52 home runs, 42 doubles, 181 RBI and 154 runs scored. Nickles-Camarena’s 2019 season stands as one of the best ever by a Bruin. Her 66 runs scored and 72 RBI rank fourth in UCLA single-season history while her 21-game hitting streak stretch from March through May ranks as the fourth longest.

Nickles-Camarena set and tied several program NCAA Tournament records in her time as a Bruin. In UCLA’s 2019 title run, she set the record for most doubles in a postseason (5) and tied the record for most runs scored (13). She tied the record for most hits the previous postseason with 16.

Nickles-Camarena graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 2021 and earned her master’s degree in 2024.

Prior to UCLA, Nickles-Camarena was a four-year starter at Merced High School where she was named the Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year as a senior. A two-way player, she finished her prep career with a 67-12 record, 1.05 ERA, 31 shutouts, 11 no-hitters, 809 strikeouts and 524.2 innings in the circle and a .487 batting average, 25 homers, 134 RBI and 56 doubles at the plate.

Nickles-Camarena married her husband, Evan, in March 2024. She has gone by the nickname “Bubba” since she was 12 years old.

Nickles-Camarena’s Coaching Experience
2024 – Graduate Assistant Coach, UCLA
2025 – Assistant Coach, UCLA

Career Highlights (as a player)
UCLA
• NCAA Champion (2019)
• NFCA Second Team All-American (2019)
• 3-time All-Pac-12 honoree (First Team - 2019, 2018; Second Team - 2017)
• Pac-12 All-Freshman Team (2017)
• 2-time NFCA West All-Region First Team honoree (2019, 2018)
• 2-time All-Women’s College World Series Team honoree (2019, 2018)
• 2-time Pac-12 Player of the Week (last April 22, 2019)

Team USA
• Olympic Silver Medalist (2020)
• World Games Gold Medalist (2022)
• 2-time WBSC Junior Women’s World Championships Gold Medalist (2017, 2015)

Professional
• AUX Champion (2024)
• Japan Diamond League Champion (2023)