Tag: UCLA Bruins Softball

UCLA players impress at WBSC World Cup Finals

Another win for Team USA softball.

The UCLA Bruins softball team made a run to the Women’s College World Series this year. And, the alumni that represent the Bruins is quite an impressive list.

With the WBSC World Cup Finals underway, there are a number of familiar UCLA names on the roster, including Maya Brady, Ally Carda, Megan Faraimo and Rachel Garcia.

On Wednesday, Team USA defeated Japan, 2-0. Former Bruin Megan Faraimo took the mound and twirled seven shutout innings, giving up just three hits with eight strikeouts in the victory. This was also the third consecutive shutout for Team USA, so they have been tough to face.

Maya Brady has at least one hit in each game so far, so the former Bruin has been playing well.

The next game for Team USA is on Friday, July 19, against the Netherlands will the top two teams going head-to-head in the gold medal clash on July 20.

Here are some highlights from the game, as provided by the official release.

Jadelyn Allchin of UCLA Bruins softball signs professional contract

Jadelyn Allchin signs pro softball deal.

After a great run by the UCLA Bruins softball team came to an end, one of the top players on the squad signed a professional contract. The 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball team begins their season on June 10th in Wichita Kansas and Jadelyn Allchin has been signed to play with them.

Allchin played four seasons at Washington, before finishing her career at UCLA. She hit 26 home runs in her career with the Bruins.  This past season she hit .317 and was named to the second team All Pac-12.

She was made quite famous during the postseason run for her catch against Georgia.

Before her college career, she played at Huntington Beach High School. Her travel softball team was the OC Batbusters, where she played with Maya Brady, Sharlize Palacios and Janlle Meono. Allchin was a member of the World Cup-winning Junior National team back in 2019.

Allchin being named to the team was first announced by the UCLA Softball X account Thursday afternoon:

UCLA lost to Oklahoma and Stanford in the College World Series. Oklahoma eventually won the title over Florida in two games. It was their fourth national title in a row.

Addisen Fisher named Gatorade Softball Player of the Year

More honors for the Bruins.

The UCLA Bruins Women’s Softball team certainly is not going to take the time off and rest on the success that the Bruins found during the 2024 season. The Bruins continue to add talent to their roster to allow them to re-load next season. After reaching the College World Series, the Bruins learned their incoming freshman pitcher Addisen Fisher was named the Gatorade Softball National Player of the Year.

Fisher is a three time winner of the Gatorade Softball Player of the Year. The only season she did not win it was in 2022, her sophomore season.  She is the 7th in UCLA Softball history to win the award. The last time was Megan Faraimo back in 2018.

She led her Bend High School Lavada Bears to the class 5A state title. She went 20-2 as a pitcher with a 0.36 earned run average. In those 22 decisions, 10 were shut-outs, 5 were no-hitters and four went for perfect games. In 134.2 innings, she struck out 261 batters

The Bruins are expected to be loaded on the mound next season. Both Mackenzie Ficke and Taylor Tinsley are expected to return, along with Jada Cecil, the Bruins will have quite the arsenal on their staff.

UCLA softball staff wins NCFA Coaching Staff of the Year award

What an honor for the softball coaching staff.

The UCLA Bruins Softball team may not have gotten to the championship game as the team had hoped, but the program earned an award this week. Head softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez and her staff were named the 2024 NFCA Division I West Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.

This is the 7th time the UCLA Softball staff has earned this award under Inouye-Perez. The last time they won it was in 2021. When she was an assistant back in 2000, she helped win the award.

The Bruins finished the season with a 43-12 record. UCLA won the Pac-12 regular season and tournament title. It was their 10th trip to the Women’s College World Series in her time as head coach.

When she found out about the award, Inouye-Perez had this to say about the 2024 Bruins:

“I’ve never been so proud of a team, I’ve coached a long time. It was hard. This season was hard. Nobody expected us, I was telling the team, not even us, that we were going to get here. Our coaches, our players, our staff, the support, the belief, the trust, the work to get us back here is something that I am proud of. I am proud. … When I put it all together, this is the greatest year of coaching I’ve experienced. Man, building belief, building trust, building a team that could fight.”

A total of 10 programs won their region, and those will be eligible to win the National Coaching Staff of the Year award. That will be announced later this month.

UCLA softball head coach encouraging response after WCWS loss

It was a terrific run for the Bruins.

The UCLA Bruins Women’s Softball team made quite the run this season. They were in the final few games to make a run for their 14th national title in school history. It came to a quick halt with back-to-back losses over the weekend. The Bruins lost 1-0 on Saturday to Oklahoma and then 3-1 on Sunday to Stanford.

The Bruins finished their season 43-12. After the game, Bruins head coach Kelly Inoyue-Perez was asked to reflect on the season. She had this to say, per Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times.

“When I put it all together, this is the greatest year of coaching I’ve experienced. Man, building belief, building trust, building a team that could fight. We were right where we needed to be, and we ran out of time.”

The Bruins started the season slow, with 3 wins in their first 7 games. After winning 30 of their final 35, they rank into two buzz-saw starting pitchers. On Saturday, Kelly Maxwell shut them out, and then NiJaree Canady held them to four hits on Sunday.

Maya Brady, who was once again an All-American, said this about the season: 

“Just a dream. I feel like as a little girl you always look at the program, the coaching staff, the players. You think they are just untouchable”.

Stanford is part of the final four, with action wrapping up later this week.

UCLA softball star Maya Brady reflects on WCWS loss

What a career for Maya.

Maya Brady’s UCLA softball career has come to an end. Brady, who wanted to play softball at UCLA since she was a little kid lived the dream out and lived it well.

Brady and the UCLA Bruins saw their season come to an end after their 32nd trip in 42 tries to the Women’s College World Series. The Bruins lost to Stanford in the final game, but still went out as the last Pac-12 champion for regular season and conference tournament.

Brady was emotional following the game of course. The 2020 Softball America freshman of the year from San Mateo California was also a back-to-back Pac-12 Player of the Year winner. She was named to the first team All American team three times.

 

She was asked after the game about her legacy at UCLA and she had this to say to reporters:

Stanford now moves on to the Final Four. They will take on Texas on Monday evening. The other two teams remaining are the Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners.

Photos of UCLA’s final Women’s College World Series game against Stanford

What a season for UCLA.

The UCLA Bruins softball team came up short on Sunday and saw its Women’s College World Series run come to an end. After they defeated Alabama on Friday, they lost 1-0 to Oklahoma on Saturday.

On Sunday, the season ended after a 3-1 loss to Pac-12 rival Stanford. It was an unfortunate ending, but still a promising season for the Bruins and perhaps a sign of things to come as they enter the Big Ten Conference in 2024.

Here are some of the photos from the final softball game of the season for the UCLA Bruins. Making the Women’s College World Series is never anything to hang your head about.

UCLA Bruins’ WCWS run ends vs. Stanford

The season ends against Stanford.

After beating the Stanford Cardinal three times during the 2024 season, the UCLA Bruins softball team got eliminated by their Pac-12 rival on Sunday night.

In the final meeting as conference foes, before the Bruins go to the Big Ten this fall, the Cardinal came away with a 3-1 win in Oklahoma City. The loss ended the Bruins’ season. UCLA ended the season at 43-12.

The offense went silent for UCLA as Megan Grant hit a solo home run, which was one of just four hits for UCLA in the game. Jadelyn Allchin, Thessa Malau’ulu and Janelle Meono were the others with hits for the Bruins.

Kaitlyn Terry took the loss for the Bruins. She went 2.1 innings, allowed 3 hits, and allowed 2 runs. Taylor Tinsley got the final 11 outs but allowed a run as well.

Stanford moves on to Monday where they will play the Texas Longhorns. The other two teams remaining are the Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners. The championship is slated to started on Wednesday.

 

Photos from UCLA softball’s Women’s College World Series loss to Oklahoma

Tough loss for UCLA.

The UCLA Bruins softball began the Women’s College World Series with a 4-1 victory over Alabama on Friday, thanks to a Jordan Wollery three-run home run. 

On Saturday, Oklahoma got the 1-0 win to put the Bruins on the brink of elimination. Janelle Meono made waves for the Bruins with a must-see home-run-robbing catch that circulated across social media.

UCLA had just two hits and it was a solo shot by Oklahoma’s Tiare Jenning that proved to be the difference in the low-scoring affair.

UCLA faces Stanford on Sunday in a do-or-die game and here are some photos from the matchup against Oklahoma.

 

Best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners win over UCLA Bruins

The best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners thrilling win over UCLA 1-0 in the Women’s College World Series.

The Oklahoma Sooners moved on to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series with a thrilling 1-0 win over the UCLA Bruins. [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] threw a game for the ages, with 11 strikeouts over seven shutout innings.

[autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] provided the only offense the Sooners needed with a solo home run in the third inning. It was her 23rd of the season and fourth of the NCAA Tournament. In a game where the Sooners were able to get runners on base but couldn’t cash in, Jennings’ home run was just what the doctor ordered.

UCLA’s defense took away hits from [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] and [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] that likely would have gone for extra bases and scored runs. Instead, the Bruins kept the Sooners from pulling away.

But it didn’t matter as Maxwell was masterful throughout the game. Even when she did get in a little bit of trouble, she found a way to work out of the inning. She’d been great for the Sooners in 2024 but took her game to another level in the win over the Bruins.

“Kelly decided to throw one of the best games of her life today,” Gasso said. “There was no way we would be pulling her after the job she was doing.”

Maxwell was absolutely phenomenal in the win, stifling a UCLA offense that was red-hot coming into the game. The Sooners are now one win away from the championship series.

Here’s a look back at the Oklahoma Sooners win over UCLA in our latest photo gallery from the [autotag]Women’s College World Series[/autotag].