Career Highlights
• UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer (Class of 2022)
• 2-time NCAA Champion head coach (2019, 2010)
• 3-time NCAA Champion assistant coach (2004, 2003, 1999)
• 3-time NCAA Champion player (1992, 1990, 1989)
• 2-time NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year as head coach (2019, 2010)
• 9-time NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year as head coach
• 4-time Pac-10/12 Coach of the Year (2024, 2023, 2021, 2009)
• 5-time Pac-10/12 Regular Season Champion as head coach
• 12 Women’s College World Series appearances as head coach
Biography
UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Kelly Inouye-Perez begins her 21st season as The Shelly Carlin UCLA Head Softball Coach in 2027. A two-time NCAA Champion head coach, Inouye-Perez owns a 926-232-1 (.799) record through 20 seasons and has guided the Bruins to 12 Women's College World Series appearances, including national championships in 2010 and 2019. She is the only person to have won an NCAA Division I softball championship as both a player and head coach.
Inouye-Perez became UCLA softball's all-time winningest head coach on Feb. 27, 2026, securing her 888th career victory in a 15-12 win over No. 4 Florida and surpassing her two predecessors, Sue Enquist (887) and Sharron Backus (854). Including her 13 seasons as an assistant coach (1994-2006) and five years as a player (1989-93), the 2027 campaign marks her 39th consecutive year in Westwood.
Entering 2027, Inouye-Perez ranks second among active NCAA Division I softball head coaches and seventh all-time with a .799 winning percentage. In addition, UCLA has been ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll for all 311 weeks with Inouye-Perez at the helm, including 20 weeks at No. 1.
Twelve times, most recently in 2026, the Bruins have reached the Women’s College World Series under Inouye-Perez, including a stretch of seven consecutive appearances from 2015 to 2022, excluding the canceled 2020 tournament. UCLA has made the NCAA Tournament in all 19 possible seasons under Inouye-Perez and holds a 98-39 record (.715) in postseason play, including a 22-20 mark in the WCWS.
In 2026, Inouye-Perez guided UCLA to a 53-10 record and its third consecutive Women's College World Series appearance. The Bruins produced one of the greatest offensive seasons in NCAA history, setting Division I single-season records for home runs (209), runs scored (672), RBIs (643), total bases (1,408), slugging percentage (.825) and on-base percentage (.490). Megan Grant broke the NCAA single-season home run record with 42, while Jordan Woolery hit 36 home runs with an NCAA-leading 117 RBIs and was named the Softball America National Player of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year. A program-record eight players reached double-digit home run totals, led by Grant and Woolery who tallied the top two home run seasons in UCLA history.
Inouye-Perez claimed her fifth Pac-10/12 Conference regular season title and first Pac-12 Tournament championship in UCLA’s final year as a member of the league in 2024. Her five Pac-10/12 regular season titles rank third-most in conference history behind Arizona’s Mike Candrea (10) and Enquist (7). Inouye-Perez closed her time in the Pac-12 leading active head coaches with 276 conference victories and ranking second with 818 overall victories.
Numerous Bruins have garnered national, regional and conference recognition over Inouye-Perez’s 20 seasons as head coach. Rachel Garcia was a three-time winner of the Honda Sport Award (2021, 2019, 2018) and softball’s first two-time winner of the Honda Cup (2021, 2019), which is given to the best female athlete across all collegiate sports. Garcia was also a two-time winner of the prestigious USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award and earned NFCA National Player of the Year in 2018. Inouye-Perez has coached 29 NFCA All-Americans to 53 total honors, including 14 players who combined for 26 first-team selections. The Bruins have earned at least one NFCA All-America honor in all 19 possible seasons with Inouye-Perez as head coach. Additionally, Inouye-Perez has coached 50 players to 110 total NFCA All-Region honors.
Five UCLA student-athletes earned nine Conference Player of the Year awards after Inouye-Perez took the reins of the program. Most recently, Jordan Woolery was named the 2026 Big Ten Player of the Year, marking the Bruins’ first such honor in the conference. Garcia became one of five players in conference history to win the Pac-10/12 Player of the Year trophy three times (2021, 2019, 2018). Two of Inouye-Perez’s players – Maya Brady (2024, 2023) and Ally Carda (2015, 2014) – repeated as Pac-12 Player of the Year. UCLA totaled three Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year awards with Garcia winning the honor in 2019 and Megan Faraimo becoming the first Bruin to secure the award in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. UCLA has also won seven Pac-12 Freshman of the Year awards while Briana Perez became the first Bruin to win Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2022.
Forty-eight players have earned 104 all-conference selections during the Inouye-Perez era, including 38 players who have combined for 75 first-team honors (excluding honorable mention). Six of her players are four-time all-conference first team recipients: Garcia, Faraimo, Perez, Woolery, Megan Grant and Stephany LaRosa.
Four players who have competed in the Inouye-Perez era of UCLA softball have gone on to represent Team USA in the Olympics. Carda, Garcia, Bubba Nickles and Delaney Spaulding all donned the Red, White and Blue at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, held in 2021, and brought home the silver medal.
Inouye-Perez and her staff earned their ninth NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year honor in 2026 after guiding UCLA to its third consecutive Women's College World Series appearance. UCLA has twice received NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year honors under Inouye-Perez, in 2010 and 2019. She was also an assistant coach on Enquist's 2000 and 2004 staffs that earned NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year recognition. In 2024, Inouye-Perez was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the fourth time, tied for second-most in conference history. She became the 20th member of the UCLA softball program inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.
Inouye-Perez is a link to five decades of Bruin softball success, having helped UCLA win eight NCAA Championships, 12 Pac-10/12 regular-season titles and 1,813 games over her previous 38 years in Westwood. She served as an assistant coach and played for her two predecessors, UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist.
Over Inouye-Perez’s 13 seasons as an assistant coach (1994-06), UCLA was 617-150-1 (.804) and appeared in the NCAA title game seven times, winning the NCAA Championship in 1999, 2003 and 2004. The Bruins also won three Pac-10 titles during that span (1999, 2002, 2006) and in 2004 were named the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year.
As an assistant coach, Inouye-Perez primarily worked with UCLA's pitchers and catchers, including some of the most decorated players in college softball history. Behind the dish, where Inouye-Perez also starred as a three-time All-Pac-10 honoree during her playing days at UCLA, she helped helped develop Stacey Nuveman, one of the most accomplished catchers in softball history. Under Inouye-Perez’s tutelage, Nuveman became a three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, four-time NFCA first-team All-American and the NCAA career home run record holder with 90.
At least one NFCA All-America award was earned by a UCLA pitcher in 12 of her 13 assistant coaching campaigns. That list includes Pac-10 Pitchers of the Year Courtney Dale (1999) and Keira Goerl (2003), DeeDee Weiman, four-time Olympian Tanya Harding and two-time Olympian Amanda Freed.
As a player, Inouye-Perez was an exceptionally strong fielder. She made an immediate impact, earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors as a freshman and second-team honors as a sophomore, leading the Bruins to the 1989 and 1990 NCAA Championships before receiving a medical redshirt in 1991 due to shoulder surgery.
She came back strong in 1992, picking up All-Pac-10 Second Team honors as the Bruins once again won the national championship and finished with a 54-2 record, the fewest losses in a season in program history. Inouye-Perez was also named to the 1992 All-WCWS Team, going 5-for-12 (.417) with four RBIs during WCWS play. She wrapped up her career as a fifth-year senior in 1993 with an NCAA runner-up finish. Impressively, Inouye-Perez did not commit a single fielding error during her final two seasons.
Among the UCLA pitchers during her five seasons as a player were Lisa Longaker and Lisa Fernandez, both of whom were named to the NCAA’s 25th Anniversary Team. During her UCLA career, Inouye-Perez played in 22 Women’s College World Series games, a mark that is tied for third-best in UCLA history behind only Lisa Fernandez and Kristy Howard (23).
Prior to college, Inouye-Perez was one of the top players during her ASA days, winning four national championships with the Panthers (1984, 1985, 1989) and the Raiders (1986). She also competed on an international level in Japan in 1985 and in Peru in 1987 (Pan American Qualifier) and followed her collegiate career with time playing on the NPF Pro Tour.
Inouye-Perez graduated from UCLA in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and earned her master’s degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2004.
Inouye-Perez and her husband, Gerardo Perez, reside in Cerritos. Along with Kelly’s exploits on the diamond, Gerardo competed as a catcher and designated hitter for Cerritos College from 1988-90 and helped lead the Falcons to the 1989 Junior College National Championship. After a stellar career at Cerritos, he went on to compete at Loyola Marymount, earning All-West Coast Conference First Team honors his junior and senior seasons. He currently teaches and coaches baseball at Gahr High School in Cerritos.
The couple has two children, Mikey, a former standout on the UCLA baseball team, and Kylie, a former soccer player at Long Beach State. Mikey was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round (459th overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Awards Won By Players (as head coach)
• 2-time Honda Cup Winner Rachel Garcia
• 3-time Honda Sport Award Winner Rachel Garcia
• 2-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Rachel Garcia
• NFCA National Player of the Year Rachel Garcia
• NFCA National Pitcher of the Year Rachel Garcia
• 29 NFCA All-Americans (53 citations)
• 14 NFCA First Team All-Americans (26 citations)
• 9 Conference Player of the Year Awards
• 3 Conference Pitcher of the Year Awards
• 6 Conference Freshman of the Year Awards
• 1 Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award
NCAA Tournament History (as head coach)
• 2019 NCAA Champion
• 2010 NCAA Champion
• 12 Women’s College World Series appearances
• 14 Super Regionals appearances
• 17-time Regionals host
• 19 NCAA Tournament appearances
• 98-39 NCAA Tournament record (.715)
• 22-20 WCWS record (.524)
Kelly Inouye-Perez’s Year-by-Year UCLA Head Coaching Record
| Year | Ovr. Record | Conf. Record | Conf. Finish | Conf. Tourney | NCAA Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 37-18 (.673) | 12-9 (Pac-10) | T-3rd | -- | 1-2 (T-17th – Regionals) |
| 2008 | 51-9 (.850) | 17-4 (Pac-10) | 2nd | -- | 6-2 (T-5th – WCWS) |
| 2009 | 45-11 (.804) | 16-5 (Pac-10) | 1st | -- | 4-2 (T-9th – Super Regionals) |
| 2010 | 50-11 (.820) | 14-7 (Pac-10) | 2nd | -- | 10-0 (National Champions) |
| 2011 | 36-19 (.655) | 9-12 (Pac-12) | T-6th | -- | 3-2 (T-17th – Regionals) |
| 2012 | 36-20 (.643) | 12-12 (Pac-12) | T-4th | -- | 0-2 (T-17th – Regionals) |
| 2013 | 40-20 (.667) | 10-14 (Pac-12) | T-5th | -- | 3-2 (T-17th – Regionals) |
| 2014 | 52-8 (.867) | 19-5 (Pac-12) | 2nd | -- | 4-2 (T-9th – Super Regionals) |
| 2015 | 51-12 (.810) | 19-5 (Pac-12) | 2nd | -- | 6-2 (T-5th – WCWS) |
| 2016 | 40-16-1 (.711) | 16-5-1 (Pac-12) | 2nd | -- | 5-3 (T-7th – WCWS) |
| 2017 | 48-15 (.762) | 16-8 (Pac-12) | T-3rd | -- | 6-2 (T-5th – WCWS) |
| 2018 | 58-7 (.892) | 20-4 (Pac-12) | 2nd | -- | 8-3 (T-3rd – WCWS) |
| 2019 | 56-6 (.903) | 20-4 (Pac-12) | T-1st | -- | 10-1 (National Champions) |
| 2020 | 25-1 (.962) | canceled | canceled | -- | canceled |
| 2021 | 47-7 (.870) | 19-2 (Pac-12) | 1st | -- | 6-3 (T-3rd – WCWS) |
| 2022 | 51-10 (.836) | 19-5 (Pac-12) | 2nd | -- | 8-2 (T-3rd – WCWS) |
| 2023 | 52-7 (.881) | 21-3 (Pac-12) | 1st | 2-1 (Runner-Up) | 0-2 (T-17th – Regionals) |
| 2024 | 43-12 (.782) | 17-4 (Pac-12) | 1st | 3-0 (Champions) | 6-2 (T-5th – WCWS) |
| 2025 | 55-13 (.809) | 17-5 (Big Ten) | 2nd | 2-1 (Runner-Up) | 6-3 (T-5th – WCWS) |
| 2026 | 53-10 (.841) | 20-4 (Big Ten) | 3rd | 2-1 (Runner-Up) | 6-2 (T-5th – WCWS) |
| Totals | 926-232-1 (.799) | 313-117-1 (.724) | 5 Titles | 1 Title | 98-39 (.715) |