NCAA Tournament Bracket // Pac-12 Statistics // NCAA Statistics

SAN FRANCISCO - Six Pac-12 softball programs, including four national seeds, are headed to the 2023 NCAA Division I Softball Championship in No. 2 seed UCLA, No. 7 seed Washington, No. 9 seed Stanford, No. 15 seed Utah, California and Oregon.

The 64-team tournament beings Friday with 16 regionals, where a four-team, double-elimination tournament will be conducted to determine the 16 advancing programs that will appear in Super Regionals to be held next weekend, May 25-28. ESPN will provide coverage from all 16 regional sites on one of the ESPN family of networks.

It's the 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament to feature at least five Pac-12 programs and 23rd in the past 26 that includes at least six teams from the Conference. The Pac-12 last had fewer than five teams in the postseason in 1996 (four), when the field was only 32 teams. Since then, at least six programs have made it every year except 2019, 2014 and 1997 (five).

The nation’s most successful softball conference, Pac-12 programs have combined to win 24 of the 40 NCAA softball championships all-time, 18 more than the next closest league, and all nine Pac-12 teams have made appearances in the Women’s College World Series. Of the 13 different programs to have won an NCAA softball championship, five are from the Pac-12: UCLA (12), Arizona (8), Arizona State (2), California (1) and Washington (1).

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Pac-12 programs combined to go 186-42 (.816) against non-league foes during the regular season, the best non-conference winning percentage in the country ahead of the SEC (.800; 302-75-1).

• Last season, Pac-12 teams went 228-68-1 (.769) in non-league games, including the postseason, the second-best mark in the country behind the SEC (342-97; .779).
• The Pac-12 was 16-15 against NFCA-ranked opponents in regular-season, non-conference games this season. After winning just one of its first seven, the league went 15-9 (.625) against ranked non-conference foes the rest of the way.

PAC-12 POSTSEASON AWARDS: In a vote of the the league's nine softball head coaches, UCLA's Maya Brady, the Pac-12 Batting Champion, was voted Pac-12 Player of the Year; fellow Bruin Megan Faraimo earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year honors for the second consecutive season; Arizona's Allie Skaggs was selected Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year; UCLA's Jordan Woolery was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year; and Bruin head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez claimed Pac-12 Coach of the Year accolades. 

PAC-12 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT: No. 3 seed Utah knocked off No. 2 seed Washington in the semifinals (8-4) and top-seeded UCLA in the championship (7-4) to win the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament in Tucson, Ariz. The Utes hit .352 in their three games at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium, scored 21 runs and hit five home runs. Utah left-handed pitcher Mariah Lopez tossed a pair of complete games against the Huskies and Bruins to earn Most Outstanding Player honors. The event averaged 2,449 fans per session and 2,548 were on hand to see the Utes and Bruins in the final.

LOS ANGELES REGIONAL: UCLA (52-5), the Conference's regular-season champion, enters the postseason as the No. 2 overall seed. The Bruins are making their 24th consecutive NCAA appearance and will host the WAC champions Grand Canyon (46-11) to start their Los Angeles Regional, which will also feature San Diego State (35-15) and Liberty (38-20). UCLA, which advanced to the championship game at the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament, leads the nation in NCAA titles (12) and NCAA Tournament wins (242).

• UCLA's 21 Pac-12 wins were the most in the Conference since Oregon in 2018 (21-3) and the Bruins' best since they went 22-6 in 1999.
• The Bruins completed their Pac-12 slate five games clear of second-place Washington, the largest margin since Arizona (27-1) won it by eight games over Washington (19-9) in 1998.
• Following a loss at Oregon on March 24, UCLA reeled off 25 consecutive wins before losing to Utah in the Pac-12 Tournament final.
• The Pac-12 Batting Champion, Maya Brady is batting .458 with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs this season and is the only player in the country with those numbers. There's chance that Brady becomes the fourth in Pac-12 history to win the league's triple crown - joining Baylee Klingler (Washington - 2022), Stacey Nuveman (UCLA – 1999) and Jenny Dalton (Arizona – 1996). She leads the league in batting, trails Arizona State's Jordyn VanHook by one in home runs (19) and Arizona's Allie Skaggs by five in RBIs (64).
• In the circle, Megan Faraimo is second in the nation with 29 wins this season despite starting just 20 games.

SEATTLE REGIONAL: Washington (38-12) earned the No. 7 overall seed and will host the Seattle Regional, starting against Big Sky champions Northern Colorado (26-21), along with McNeese (44-14) and Minnesota (37-17). Making their 29th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the Huskies have the fourth-most NCAA Tournament wins all-time (128) and fourth-most WCWS appearances (14). UW has been a national seed and hosted a regional in each NCAA Tournament since 2016.

• The Huskies have had a winning record in Conference in seven consecutive seasons, the second-longest active streak in the league (UCLA - 9). UW was 11-11 and sixth in 2015.
• Washington's eight wins against the top 25 in the NCAA RPI are tied for the 12th most in the country.
• The Huskies are 8-7 against the RPI top 25 and one of just six schools with a winning record in such games (minimum five games played), along with Oklahoma, UCLA, Tennessee, Oklahoma State and Florida State.

STANFORD REGIONAL: Stanford (40-13) is the No. 9 overall seed in the Stanford Regional. The Cardinal's regional will feature the Big West champions Long Beach State (31-21), along with Loyola Marymount (27-20) and Florida (36-20). In the postseason for the fourth consecutive tournament following the program's first 40-win season since 2012, the Cardinal is a national seed for the first time since 2011 (No. 15) and has its highest seed since 2009 (No. 8).

• No. 7 in the latest NFCA rankings, the Cardinal has been a top-10 program in 10 consecutive polls, its longest top-10 run since 16 straight weeks from Feb. 10, 2009 to the preseason poll in 2010.
• Stanford had a 21-game winning streak snapped at Oregon on March 18. The Cardinal entered that series against the Ducks with eight consecutive shutouts and an Allee Bunker RBI double in the third inning of game one on March 17 snapped a 56-inning scoreless streak.
• The Cardinal is sixth in the nation in ERA (1.61), 13th in shutouts (17), third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.03) and 12th in fielding percentage (.977).
  • Stanford hasn't finished a season with an ERA below 1.70 since 2008 (1.37).
• The Cardinal's 21-game winning streak was its longest since winning 28 in a row from Feb. 7 - March 23, 2009.
• At 40-13, the Cardinal has its best record through 53 games since 2009 (44-9).

SALT LAKE CITY REGIONAL: The No. 15 overall seed, Utah (37-13) is back in the postseason field for the first time since 2017 sporting its best record through 50 games since 1994 (41-9). The Utes received the Conference's automatic berth after winning the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament and will host the Salt Lake City Regional for their 17th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and take on Missouri Valley champions Southern Illinois (36-18), a regional that also features Ole Miss (30-26) and Baylor (39-16).

• Utah finished a program-best third in the Pac-12 this season and its 15 Conference wins are its most in its 12 seasons as a member of the league.
• The Utes closed their regular season with a sweep of then-No. 13 Oregon in Eugene. It was their third series victory of the year over a ranked foe, previously taking series from then-No. 17 Arizona and then-No. 5 Stanford. In fact, Utah swept its series with Cardinal, the last two in walk-off fashion, for its first three-game sweep of a top-five opponent in program history.
• This season, Utah has collected the program's first series victory over Arizona since 2017 and its first-ever series victory over Oregon.
• In Mariah Lopez's last 17 appearances, she has only been tagged for more than three runs once and has lowered her ERA from 3.00 on April 8 to 2.33 heading into the postseason.

FAYETTEVILLE REGIONAL: Oregon (35-15) will take on Notre Dame (29-17-1) in the Fayetteville Regional, which also has hosts No. 11 Arkansas (38-17) and Harvard (29-15-1). The Ducks are in the field for the 23rd time and third in a row, and will be going for their first Super Regional and WCWS appearances since 2018.

• Sixteen of the 21 on the Ducks' roster, including every starter, have previous NCAA Tournament experience, 12 for UO and four at their last school.
• With her 10th home run of the season on May 6 against Utah, Allee Bunker became the only player in the NCAA who has hit 10 or more home runs, while striking out seven times or fewer in each of the last three seasons.
  • Bunker is just the second position player in UO history (fourth overall) to be a four-time All-Pac-12 selection (Kathy Stahl, INF, 1993-96).

NORMAN REGIONAL: California (33-19-1) earned its 34th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018 with an at-large bid. The Golden Bears will head to the Normal Regional to take on Missouri (34-24). Hosts and No. 1 Oklahoma (51-1) and Hofstra (29-25) are the other teams in Norman.

• With its 9-14-1 Pac-12 mark, Cal posted its highest Conference win total since it went 11-11 in 2016.
• The Bears' 33 total wins are also their most in a season since 2018 (35-21).
• Cal's Conference-leading 67 home runs are second in team single-season history, trailing only the 84 it hit in 2012.
• The Bears are 23-5 this season when scoring first and 31-7 when scoring at least three runs.
• Cal's offense has been explosive in the middle innings, scoring half of its runs (146 of 291; 50.2 percent) runs in frame Nos. 3-5.

USA SOFTBALL COLLEGIATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALIST: UCLA's Maya Brady is one of three finalists for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.

• Pac-12 student-athletes have won the honor six times previously since it began in 2002, most recently by UCLA's Rachel Garcia in 2018 and 2019. In addition to Garcia, Stacey Nuveman won for the Bruins in 2022, Washington's Danielle Lawrie took home back-to-back awards in 2009 and 2010, and Stanford's Ashley Hansen won in 2011.
• Five made their list of 25 finalists revealed on April 19 in Brady, NiJaree Canady (Stanford), Megan Faraimo UCLA), Baylee Klingler (Washington) and Alana Vawter (Stanford). Faraimo joined Brady among a group of 10 finalists announced on May 3.
• The Player of the Year will be revealed prior to the start of the Women's College World Series.

TUCCI/NFCA DIVISION I FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR TOP 10: Three pac-12 student-athletes are among 10 in the running for the 2023 TUCCI/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year award in Stanford's NiJaree Canady and UCLA's Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.

• The Pac-12's three among the final 10 are tied with the ACC for the most among all leagues.
• The winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 30, prior to the start of the 2023 NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
• The TUCCI/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award was created in 2014 to honor outstanding athletic achievement among Division I freshmen softball student-athletes.
• UCLA's Rachel Garcia won the award in 2017.

powHER OF THE PAC: All nine Pac-12 softball programs are led by female head coaches.

• The Pac-12 is one of just two leagues in the country that features exclusively female head coaches (Ivy League).
• Six of the nine are leading their alma maters - Jessica Allister (STAN), Amy Hogue (UTAH), Kelly Inouye-Perez (UCLA), Caitlin Lowe (ARIZ), Chelsea Spencer (CAL) and Heather Tarr (WASH).

RANKINGS ROUNDUP: Five of the league's nine teams are in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll.

• UCLA, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this season, is No. 2 and followed by No. 6 Washington, No. 7 Stanford, No. 17 Utah and No. 19 Oregon.
• The Pac-12 is one of thee leagues with three teams in the top 10 (ACC, Big 12) and the only one with three of the top seven.
• At No. 17, the Utes have risen to their highest spot in the poll this season and best since checking in at No. 15 in the preseason poll in 2018.
• Seven Conference teams were in the USA TODAY/NFCA preseason poll, the first time since 2013 and 12th time overall that the Pac-12 has had seven ranked teams to open the season, which tied the league's second-most all-time. All eight Pac-10 softball programs were in the preseason Top 25 in 2001.
• ESPN.com/USA Softball: #2 UCLA, #5 Washington, #6 Stanford, #14 Utah, #19 Oregon, RV Arizona, RV California.
• D1Softball: #2 UCLA, #5 Washington, #8 Stanford, #17 Utah, #20 Oregon.
• Softball America: #2 UCLA, #6 Washington, #8 Stanford, #12 Utah, #19 Oregon.

SELECTIONS RPI: In the most recent update through games as of May 14, the Pac-12 is the nation's No. 2 conference according to the NCAA's Adjusted RPI rankings (Big 12 - No. 1, SEC - No. 3, ACC - No. 4).

• Led by No. 2 UCLA, two-thirds of the Pac-12 (66.7 percent) is in the nation's top 30 in Adjusted RPI, the second-highest clip among all leagues (SEC - 10 of 13 - 76.9 percent). The Bruins are followed by No. 4 Stanford, which also owns the nation's top strength of schedule, No. 13 Washington, No. 18 Utah, No. 20 Oregon and No. 29 California.
• The Pac-12 and Big 12 (No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Oklahoma State) are the only leagues with multiple programs in the top five.

WBSC WORLD CUP ROSTER: On April 14, a national-best eight players from the Pac-12 were named to USA Softball's first U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) roster of the 2023 season that will compete at the WBSC World Cup from July 11-15 in Fingal-Dublin, Ireland.

• Ali Aguilar (Washington), Sis Bates (Washington), Maya Brady (UCLA), Ally Carda (UCLA), Megan Faraimo (UCLA), Hannah Flippen (Utah), Baylee Klingler (Washington) and Gwen Svekis (Oregon), will be led in Ireland by Team USA and UW head coach Heather Tarr.
• UCLA and Washington lead all programs with three players apiece on the 16-person roster.
• Competing in Group A, the U.S. will be joined by world-ranked No. 3 Chinese Taipei, No. 9 Australia, No. 16 Great Britain, No. 17 Ireland and No. 43 Botswana.

IN THE DRAFTS: Led by first-round picks Baylee Klingler and Megan Faraimo, a total of five Pac-12 softball student-athletes were selected in the 2023 Women's Professional Fastpitch Draft on April 17 in Oklahoma City.

• Lasting six rounds with four selections per round, the 24-pick event featured the Pac-12's five all chosen within the first 16 picks.
• Klingler, the 2022 Pac-12 Player of the Year, went No. 2 overall to the Texas Smoke, while Faraimo, the Conference's reigning Pitcher of the Year, was chosen fourth overall by the USSSA Pride. The Pac-12 was the only league with multiple first-round selections.
• Faraimo's UCLA teammate, Brooke Yanez, was also chosen by the USSSA Pride in the third round with the 12th overall pick. In the fourth round, California's Makena Smith went to the Smash It Sports Vipers with pick No. 15 overall and was follow one selection later by Oregon's Allee Bunker, who was taken 16th overall by the USSSA Pride.
• On May 8, Faraimo (No. 2), Klingler (No. 6) and Arizona State's Yannira Acuña (No. 10) were three of the 14 selections in the 2023 Athletes Unlimited Collegiate Softball Draft. In Athletes Unlimited, teams are re-drafted by player captains every week and a scoring system is used for both teams and players. The upcoming season is set to run from late July until September with all games being played in Rosemont, Ill. at Parkway Bank Sports Complex. All games will air on ESPN platforms.

QUICK HITTERS

• CALIFORNIA: Cal's 151 extra-base hits (67 HR, 78 2B, 6 3B) lead the Pac-12 with UCLA (146) in second and Arizona and Washington (136) tied for third.
  • The Golden Bears took down then-No. 2 UCLA on March 11, 8-0, for their first win over a top-five team since 2012. They took two of three from Arizona State March 24-26, their first series win against the Sun Devils since 2012.
• OREGON: Allee Bunker is the only player in program history ranked in the UO career top five in hits, doubles, runs and RBI. She's now third in hits (281), second in doubles (46) and fifth in runs (161) and RBIs (167).
• STANFORD: Freshman NiJaree Canady has only given up seven earned runs in 99 innings and leads the country with a 0.49 ERA this season. No one in the Conference has finished with an ERA under 0.50 since UCLA's Keira Goerl in 2002 (0.48).
• UCLA: Megan Faraimo is six strikeouts away from becoming just the third player in UCLA history to record 1,000 strikeouts in a career. In the 1,000 K club are Anjelica Selden (1,441; 2005-08) and Keira Goerl (1,095; 2001-04).
  • Megan Grant (55 RBIs) and Jordan Woolery (46) are the only true freshmen in Bruin history to each have at least 37 RBIs in a single season. Their 101 combined RBIs are the most by a freshman duo in a single season in UCLA history and are second behind Indiana's Taryn Kern and Avery Parker (104) for the most by a freshman duo this season. Grant's 55 RBIs rank second among freshmen in the nation, trailing only Kern (67).
• UTAH: The Utes are 11th in the country in batting average, hitting .323 as a team, and 14th in scoring, averaging 6.16 runs per game. Utah's 1.80 steals per game average is 28th nationally and its 90 total stolen bases are just two shy of the school record of 92 set in 1994.
• WASHINGTON: With a 16-5 record this season, first-year pitcher Ruby Meylan is tied for fifth in the Conference in victories. Her win total is No. 1 in the NCAA among Power 5 freshmen.
  • Meylan is tied for ninth in the NCAA with six saves and one shy from tying the single-season program record from Tia Bollinger in 2002 (7).

STAT LINES

• NCAA Top-10 Team Rankings: Batting Avg. - UCLA (2nd, .338), Arizona (7th, .329); ERA - Stanford (6th, 1.61), UCLA (10th, 1.66); Fielding % - Arizona (2nd, .985), Washington (6th, .980); OBP - UCLA (8th, .417), Arizona (9th, .416); Scoring - Arizona (3rd, 6.87); Shutouts - UCLA (4th, 2021; Strikeout-to-walk ratio - UCLA (2nd, 5.10); Stanford (3rd, 5.03); Winning % - UCLA (2nd; .912).
• NCAA Top-10 Individual Rankings: Batting average - Maya Brady, UCLA (6th, .458); ERA - NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 0.49); Hits - Maya Brady, UCLA (8th, 76) Hits allowed per seven innings - NiJaree Canady, STAN (5th, 3.39); Home runs - Jordyn VanHook, ASU (7th, 19), Maya Brady, UCLA (10th, 18); Home runs per game - Jordyn VanHook, ASU (3rd, 0.40); RBIs - Allie Skaggs, ARIZ (5th, 64), Maya Brady, UCLA (9th, 59); Saves - Morgan Scott, ORE (9th, 6), Ruby Meylan, WASH (9th, 6); Slugging % - Maya Brady, UCLA (7th, .892) Strikeout-to-walk ratio - NiJaree Canady, STAN (2nd, 9.33); Strikeouts per seven innings - NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 11.9); Total bases - Maya Brady, UCLA (2nd, 148); Victories - Megan Faraimo, UCLA (2nd, 29).

PRESEASON PAC-12 COACHES POLL: For the third consecutive season, UCLA was voted by the Conference’s softball head coaches as the league’s preseason favorite for the upcoming campaign.

• The Bruins, which have made seven straight trips to the Women's College World Series, collected all eight available first-place votes and totaled 64 points to top the annual poll. It's the first time since 2016 (Oregon) that a Pac-12 team has garnered every available first-place vote. Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
• Stanford was second with 54 points, and followed closely by Washington (53 points), which picked up the remaining first-place vote. Coming off its first Super Regional appearance since 2011, the Cardinal boasts its highest-ever position in the preseason poll. Stanford had been picked third twice previously, in 2002 and 2006. 
• Oregon collected 39 points and Arizona 30 to round out the top portion of the rankings. Oregon State was sixth (25 points), California seventh (21 points), Utah eighth (20 points) and Arizona State ninth (18 points).

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS: The Pac-12 returns six NFCA All-Americans from a season ago, including the league's reigning Player (Baylee Klingler, WASH) and Pitcher (Megan Faraimo, UCLA) of the Year. In addition to Klingler (first-team All-American) and Faraimo (second-team AA), also back are Arizona State's Yannira Acuña (second-team AA), Arizona's Allie Skaggs (second-team AA), California's Makena Smith (third-team AA) and Utah's Ellessa Bonstrom (third-team AA).

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE: The Conference's six returning All-Americans are also featured on the first-ever Preseason All-Pac-12 Team, which was voted on by the league's head coaches. UCLA has a league-high five players on the team in Maya Brady, Faraimo, Aaliyah Jordan, Sharlize Palacios and Brooke Yanez. Washington is second with four (Madison Huskey, Klingler, Lindsay Lopez, Sami Reynolds). 

MORE PAC-12 SOFTBALL:

• In Season
  • How every Pac-12 softball team can win their NCAA Regional (May 17)
  • Subs step up as Utah wins inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament (May 13)
  • Utah, UCLA advance to Pac-12 Softball Championship Game (May 12)
  • The best moments from the Pac-12 Softball Tournament quarterfinals (May 11)
  • Game-by-game preview of the 2023 Pac-12 Softball Tournament (May 9)
  • What to watch for in the final week of the Pac-12 softball regular season (May 4)
  • 1 thing we've learned about each Pac-12 softball team through midpoint of conference play (April 14)
  • 4 Pac-12 softball storylines to watch heading into second half of conference play (April 11)
  • Previewing the Stanford-UCLA softball series, a battle of top-10 teams (March 30)
  • Off to best Pac-12 start, Utah softball has Women's College World Series aspirations in 2023 (March 21)
  • Pitching, defense and freshmen fueling Stanford softball's nation-best winning streak (March 16)
  • These Pac-12 freshmen have shined bright to begin the 2023 softball season (Feb. 20)
• Preseason
  • 1 thing to know about all 9 Pac-12 softball teams entering the 2023 season
  • 1 must-watch non-conference matchup for every Pac-12 softball team
  • 1 freshman to know from each Pac-12 softball team in 2023
  • These Pac-12 softball transfers could be difference-makers in 2023

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Full Schedule) 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

PAC-12 SOFTBALL WEEKLY AWARDS

NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS