Three Southern California softball teams have earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament, including No. 8 national seed UCLA, which is led by big-time hitters Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.
In the Los Angeles Regional at Easton Stadium, the host Bruins (47-8), along with California Baptist (43-17), Cal State Fullerton (40-13) and South Carolina (30-26), will begin play Friday afternoon. The winner from this weekend’s double-elimination regional will move on to a best-of-three Super Regional against the winner of the Tallahassee Regional, which includes ninth-seeded Florida State, UCF, Stetson and Jackson State.
UCLA
Grant and Woolery, who bat second and third, respectively, are at the core of the Bruins’ offense and the first teammates in NCAA history to each eclipse 30 home runs in the same season.
Grant has hit an NCAA-record 38 home runs this season, surpassing a standard that had been intact since 1995. She’s five homers away from breaking Stacey Nuveman’s UCLA career record of 90.
Woolery, the Big Ten Player of the Year, is third in the nation with 33 home runs and fourth with a .515 batting average. Grant is hitting .475, which is sixth in the NCAA.
“To have consistency is not an easy thing, especially in our sport,” Bruins head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said of the two seniors. “It’s so out of your control. You could square up 80 balls and you’re still out. Home runs can get robbed. This is a sick sport. So to find the consistency with their numbers is something that is very unique.”
UCLA’s offensive output has compensated for a lack of pitching experience and depth.
The bullpen has posted a team ERA of 4.36 this season, and four-year Bruin Taylor Tinsley (28-6) is leading the group with a 2.87 ERA and 1.37 WHIP while pitching 56.4% of the Bruins’ total innings. Freshman Natalie Cable (9-1) has worked her way into the rotation as well.
“Knowing that the pitching hasn’t been as strong, when the offense and defense have your back, then you can go out there and just do what you do,” Inouye-Perez said. “Even if we give up some runs, they come back and they throw punches back. Watching them play for each other and with each other has been very, very enjoyable.”
UCLA, which has won an NCAA-best 12 national titles, will begin the regional against CBU on Friday at 7 p.m. The Bruins are making their 27th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 41st appearance overall.
California Baptist
The Lancers will make their first appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament after beating Tarleton State in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship game to secure the automatic bid.
UCLA and CBU have met once this season, with the Bruins winning the midweek game, 13-6, on April 14.
Third baseman Malachy Russel-Millen went 2 for 3 with five RBIs and a run in the game, and she currently leads all Lancers in on-base percentage at .547 in addition to hitting .355.
Yorba Linda High alum and Long Beach State transfer Makayla Medellin ranks second on the with a .366 batting average and has driven in a team-best 62 runs. She’s also 14 for 17 on stolen-base attempts.
CBU relies on a duo of pitchers – Riverside Poly product Miranda De Nava (19-7) and Emily Darwin (12-5). De Nava, the WAC Pitcher of the Year, owns a 2.24 ERA and has thrown 16 complete games this season, most recently in the conference championship game.
First-year coach Brandon Telesco is guiding the Lancers, and Thessa Malau’ulu, who played for UCLA from 2021-24, is serving as an assistant coach.
Cal State Fullerton
The Titans went 3-0 at the Big West Tournament and beat UC Santa Barbara, 1-0, to win the conference title. They’ll play South Carolina on Friday at 4:30 p.m. to open the regional after missing out on last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Gina Oaks Garcia was named the Big West co-Coach of the Year. Sarah Perez, who prepped at La Serna High, was chosen as the conference’s Field Player of the Year and Rio Mesa High’s Sarah Coccillos was the Defensive Player of the Year.
Perez was at the top of the Big West with a .463 batting average, a .503 on-base percentage and 74 hits. Coccillos recorded 38 putouts and 70 assists while starting all 50 games at third base.
Trisha McClesky (17-9), Leanna Garcia (25-9) and Eva Hurtado (15-4) have shared time in the circle this season. McClesky has pitched the most innings (171) and owns a team-best 2.62 ERA.
Fullerton hasn’t played South Carolina since 1983 and last faced CBU in 2003, leaving UCLA as its most familiar potential opponent. The Titans at one point led the Bruins by two runs in early April but ultimately lost, 13-11.
NCAA Los Angeles Regional
Game 1: South Carolina vs. Cal State Fullerton
When: Friday, 4:30 p.m.
Where: Easton Stadium
TV: ESPN+
Game 2: No. 8 seed UCLA vs. California Baptist
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Easton Stadium
TV: ESPN2
