No. 2 Bruins Travel to No. 8 Arizona With Eyes on Pac-12 Title

UCLA Softball Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Game 42
Thursday, May 13
7 p.m.
No. 2 UCLA at No. 8 Arizona
Tucson, Ariz.
Hillenbrand Stadium
TV: Pac-12 Network National, Los Angeles and Arizona
Live Stats

Games 43/44
Friday, May 14
4:30 p.m./7:30 p.m.
No. 2 UCLA at No. 8 Arizona
Tucson, Ariz.
Hillenbrand Stadium
TV Game 1: Pac-12 Network National, Los Angeles and Arizona
TV Game 2: ESPNU
Live Stats Game 1
Live Stats Game 2

Game 45
Saturday, May 15
1 p.m.
No. 2 UCLA at No. 8 Arizona
Tucson, Ariz.
Hillenbrand Stadium
TV: Pac-12 Network National, Los Angeles and Arizona
Live Stats

NO. 2 BRUINS HEAD TO NO. 8 ARIZONA WITH EYES ON PAC-12 TITLE
The second-ranked Bruins travel to Tucson for a four-game series at No. 8 Arizona. Game one will be Thursday at 7 p.m., the Friday doubleheader will start at 4:30 p.m. and the series finale on Saturday will begin at 1 p.m. The Thursday and Saturday contests, as well as the first game of the Friday twinbill, will air on Pac-12 Network, while ESPNU will televise the second game on Friday.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE TITLE RACE
UCLA (16-2) holds a one-game lead over Washington (16-4) in the Pac-12 Conference standings. The Huskies are at Stanford this weekend. Any combination of two Bruin victories or two Washington losses will clinch UCLA's 11th Pac-12 Championship and second in a row (shared with UW in 2019).

WHAT'S NEXT?
On Sunday at 6 p.m., ESPN2 will air the one-hour NCAA Selection Show, as the 64 teams, 16 national seeds and 16 host sites are announced. NCAA Regionals will be held at 16 campus sites from May 21 through May 23.

2021 PAC-12 CONFERENCE SERIES FORMAT
This season, Pac-12 Conference series' will consist of four games over three days, single games on the first and last days and a doubleheader on the second day. Three of the four contests (both single games and the first game of the doubleheader) will count towards the Pac-12 standings, with the other game designated as a non-conference contest. In the event one of the four games is canceled due to weather or COVID concerns, the other three games played will be used for conference standings.

BRUINS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS (THROUGH 5/10)
Team Rankings
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (1st, 6.31)
Earned Run Average (2nd, 1.15)
Shutouts (T-3rd, 18)
Winning Percentage (4th, .927)
On Base Percentage (7th, .424)
Fielding Percentage (9th, .980)
Slugging Percentage (9th, .580)
Batting Average (10th, .335)
Runs Per Game (16th, 6.61)
Home Runs (25th, 58)
Doubles (T-26th, 28)
Walks (T-29th, 158)

Megan Faraimo
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (1st, 15.78)
Walks Allowed Per Seven Innings (5th, 0.58)
Hits Allowed Per Seven Innings (11th, 3.41)
Earned Run Average (15th, 1.10)
Shutouts (T-24th, 6)
Wins (T-42nd, 16)

Rachel Garcia
Earned Run Average (1st, 0.59)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (14th, 6.71)
Hits Allowed Per Seven Innings (14th, 3.63)
Slugging Percentage (T-46th, .778)

Briana Perez
Triples (T-15th, 5)
Runs Scored (T-38th, 44)

THE SERIES: UCLA VS. ARIZONA
UCLA holds a 92-59 lead in the all-time series against Arizona, posting a 36-27 mark in games in Tucson. The Bruins swept the 2018 series at Arizona and have won seven of their last eight at Hillenbrand Stadium. The most recent matchup came at the 2019 Women's College World Series, as the Bruins notched a 6-2 victory.

MORE NOTES
--With their win in last Saturday's second game of a doubleheader versus Stanford, the Bruins eclipsed 2,000 program victories.
--The Bruins have scored in the first inning in 23 of 41 games, with their 57 runs scored their highest total in any inning this season. UCLA has also closed games strong, outscoring the competition 104-11 in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
--The Bruins this season are undefeated when scoring first (31-0), when scoring at least five runs (30-0), when allowing two runs or less (34-0), when out-hitting their opponent (35-0) and when leading after four innings (31-0). UCLA is also 25-1 at home, 22-1 when scoring in the first inning and 33-1 when hitting a home run.
--Senior Rachel Garcia picked up her fifth Pac-12 weekly award (second Player of the Week) on Monday after reaching base in all six victories last week, going 6-for-14 (.429) with six RBI and seven walks, while going 4-0 in the circle with 22 strikeouts in 25 innings. Garcia has allowed zero or one earned run in all 19 of her appearances, reaching double figures in strikeouts four times, including last Wednesday at Long Beach State when she had 10. Her second Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week award came after she pitched the second no-hitter of her career on April 16 against OSU, striking out 12. She had back-to-back, 14-strikeout performances against UNLV (March 12) and Arizona State (March 19). Garcia won twice in the ASU series to earn her first Pitcher of the Week honor, twice more in the Oregon series and tossed a complete-game, three-hitter against Washington to pick up her third Pitcher of the Week award. At the plate, Garcia has hits in 26 of her 32 games. She hit a pair of homers in the Oregon series and two more in the Arizona State series, adding bombs versus Stanford, Utah, Washington, UNLV and in her first at-bat of the season on Feb. 12 against Fresno State.
--Junior Briana Perez has hits in 34 of 41 games, and 44 of 51 dating back to last year, including hitting streaks of seven, eight, five and 12 this season. Perez hit .390 (16-for-41) during her most recent 12-game streak (April 10-May 1) with four homers, 15 RBI and 15 runs. She hit her team-leading 11th home run in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against Stanford, the third Pac-12 series in a row she has left the yard. The team leader in multiple-hit games with 13, Perez had two in the Stanford series after recording three in the Utah series, hitting a homer in game two. The junior hit a solo homer to end the Washington series on April 25, adding three-run shots versus the Huskies (April 23) and Oregon (April 11). She hit home runs in three games in a row from March 11-19 (UCSB, UNLV, ASU), adding long balls versus Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 20), LMU (Feb. 21) and SJSU (March 7). Perez also leads the team with 11 multiple-RBI contests. She has scored a run in 31 of 41 games, including multiples 12 times.
--Sophomore Megan Faraimo carries a 23 2/3 innings scoreless streak into this week's series, having struck out 18 while allowing only five hits and one walk. She tossed six shutout frames in two games against Stanford last weekend after throwing 17 at Utah, posting wins in five of her last six appearances. Faraimo set a new career high with 17 strikeouts in a one-hit shutout of Oregon State on April 17. It was her fifth double-figure strikeout game of the season. She had 13 in a season-opening, one-hit shutout against Fresno State (Feb. 12), 12 strikeouts in back-to-back efforts versus UC San Diego (March 9) and UNLV (March 12) and 10 against Arizona State (March 20). Faraimo has allowed zero or one earned run in 17 of her 22 appearances. On Feb. 24 against San Diego State, Faraimo pitched the 19th perfect game in UCLA history and her third-career no-hitter, striking out five. 
--Freshman Maya Brady was hard to keep off the bases last week, going 7-for-15 (.467) in six games with three RBI, five runs and two walks. Brady tied a season high with three hits at Long Beach State on Wednesday. Prior to last weekend, she hit homers in each of the last three Pac-12 series' against Utah, in both ends of an April 24 doubleheader versus Washington and in the series finale versus OSU. Brady set career highs with six runs batted in and three hits on March 21 against Arizona State, which led to her earning Pac-12 Player and Freshman of the Week honors. She homered in each of the last three games of the ASU series, also leaving the yard against San Jose State (March 7) and UC Santa Barbara (March 11). Brady has hits in 26 of her 36 games, including an 11-game hitting streak from March 3-April 9 (14-for-25, .560, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 8 R, 7 BB, 3 SB).
--Junior Delanie Wisz recorded her second three-hit game in as many weekends to close out the Stanford series on Sunday, driving in three and hitting a home run. It was one of her two homers versus the Cardinal to get her into double figures with 10. Wisz had three hits, including a pair of doubles, on May 1 at Utah, as she has nine multiple-hit games to go with her eight multi-RBI contests. In Pac-12 play, Wisz also has homers against UW, Oregon and ASU. Her bomb on April 10 at Oregon led to her fourth four-RBI game of the season. On Feb. 24 against SDSU, she recorded the sixth two-homer game of her career with a three-run homer and a solo shot. Wisz also drove in four versus Oregon on March 1 and UCSB on March 11, leaving the yard in both contests. She has hits in 28 of 41 games. Wisz, who has played third and first base, has also caught in 16 games, having thrown out four runners from behind the plate.
--Junior Aaliyah Jordan made it home runs in five-straight, Pac-12 series' after leaving the yard in game one last Friday against Stanford. She was 5-for-10 in the Stanford series with five walks. Four of her last five home runs have come in the opening game of a series (Utah, UW, OSU), as she homered in the second game of the Oregon series. Jordan's first homer of the year also came against Oregon, in Tempe, on March 1, as she went 3-for-3 with two RBI, two doubles and a career-high four runs scored. She tied a career high with four hits against ASU on March 20, posting hits in all four games of the series. Jordan has nine multiple-hit games and six multi-RBI contests, producing four of them in the same game. She tied a personal best with four RBI versus LMU on Feb. 21.
--Junior Kinsley Washington has eight multiple-hit games, recording hits in five of her last 10 games. She had hits in three of four games at Utah. Washington also has stolen bases in four of her last eight, having stolen 15 of 16 this season. Tied for the team lead with 10 doubles, Washington became the seventh Bruin to post three in a single game on Feb. 24 versus San Diego State. She homered on March 7 against San Jose State, going 3-for-3 with four RBI, which tied a career high. Washington left the yard for the second time this season on March 20 against ASU. Washington had a stretch of five-straight, multiple-hit games from March 1-11.
--Junior Holly Azevedo has been outstanding in her last eight appearances, posting a 7-0 record and 33 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings, allowing just six earned runs (1.01 earned run average) and dropping her season ERA from 4.10 to 1.77. She tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings on May 1 at Utah, struck out six in a complete-game win over Washington on April 24, fanned five in six shutout frames against Oregon State on April 18 and tied a career high with eight strikeouts in a complete-game victory at Oregon on April 10. Azevedo holds a 42-1 career record.
--Sophomore Kelli Godin has hits in nine of her last 12, batting .481 (13-for-27) with five stolen bases. She tied a career high with three hits in game two of the April 24 doubleheader against Washington, also swiping two bases. Godin had two singles and two steals on April 30 at Utah, adding another two-hit game on May 8 versus Stanford to give her five multiple-hit games. She has hits in 27 of 41 games this season. Godin had a pair of two-hit contests against Cal State Fullerton (March 3) and UCSB (March 11). On March 12 versus UNLV, Godin hit the first home run of her career, a two-run shot that ended the game in mercy-rule fashion.
--Sophomore Anna Vines carries a six-game hitting streak into this weekend's action, batting .571 (8-for-14) with three RBI. She hit her third-career homer at Long Beach State last Wednesday, also producing a double, three runs and a walk. Vines added another two-hit game in game one versus Stanford on May 7 to give her six multiple-hit contests. At Oregon on April 10, she produced two hits and two RBI. Vines also went 3-for-3 with a solo home run at Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 20, adding two hits versus UNLV on March 12. She scored a pair of runs in both ends of the March 12 doubleheader.
--Freshman Alyssa Garcia had hits in two of the three games she played in against Stanford, including an RBI single in game one last Friday. She also had hits in all three games of the Oregon State series and the first two contests of the Washington series, going 7-for-11 (.636) with a homer and four RBI. Garcia belted her third home run of the season on April 17, a pinch-hit, two-run shot. Garcia also had a two-run jack versus UCSB on March 11, hitting her first collegiate homer, a solo bomb, on Feb. 20 at Fullerton. Defensively, she has made only one error in 206 chances (.995 fielding percentage), having thrown out six runners from behind the plate.
--Freshman Thessa Malau'ulu recorded her fourth, two-hit game of the season on Friday against Stanford, scoring a pair of runs. That effort came following a two-hit game at Utah on May 1, as she added a single, a walk, a steal and two runs in the finale on May 2. Malau'ulu had two singles on April 24 versus UW. Her first multiple-hit game came on March 7 against San Jose State when she went 2-for-2 with a pair of run-scoring doubles and three runs scored. Malau'ulu has started at third base in 12 of UCLA's last 13 games.
--Senior Jenavee Peres has three hits in her last five at-bats, driving in four runs. She had a pinch-hit single on Senior and Mother's Day on Sunday against Stanford. Peres also has pinch-hit, two-run singles at Utah (May 2) and against UNLV (March 12).
--Senior Julie Rodriguez produced her fourth pinch-hit, a double, on Saturday against Stanford. She drove in two on a pinch-hit single on May 2 at Utah, adding pinch-hit, RBI singles on April 16 against Oregon State and San Diego State on Feb. 24.
--Making the most of her chances at the plate, freshman Taylor Edwards had a pair of doubles last Saturday against Stanford, driving in two, scoring twice and reaching on a walk. She also had a single and a bases-loaded walk Wednesday at Long Beach State.
--Along with Godin and Alyssa Garcia, freshman Lauryn Carter hit her first collegiate home run against San Diego State on Feb. 24.
--Senior Bubba Nickles, who is hitting .353 with four home runs and 22 runs batted in, remains out due to a wrist injury.

RACHEL GARCIA NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season and fourth time in her career, senior Rachel Garcia was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week, as announced on Monday.

Garcia has been honored five times this season by the conference, having also been named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week three times on March 23 (following Arizona State series), April 19 (Oregon State) and April 26 (Washington) to give her a school-record 14 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week awards. Her first Player of the Week nod came on April 12 following the Oregon series.

Garcia reached base in all six Bruin victories last week, producing hits in four of them, going 6-for-14 (.429) with a home run, six runs batted in, seven walks and four runs scored. She ended the week with back-to-back, multiple-hit contests against Stanford. On Saturday (May 8) in game two of a doubleheader, Garcia hit the go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth inning to propel the Bruins to a 3-1 win over Stanford, as she drove in all three of UCLA's runs. On Sunday (May 9), the senior had a pair of RBI singles, two runs scored and a walk. Garcia opened the week with a pair of hits in a twinbill at Long Beach State (May 5), posting an RBI single in game one and a double and two walks in game two. She was walked twice in each of the first two games of the Stanford series. Garcia also earned four of the Bruins' six wins in the circle, going the distance three times and striking out 22 in 25 innings.

GARCIA NAMED TOP 10 FINALIST FOR USA SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior Rachel Garcia has been named one of 10 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award (May 5).

The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women's collegiate softball, recognizes the outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female players across the country.

Garcia has won each of the last two POY awards handed out in 2018 and 2019. In addition, Bruin alum Stacey Nuveman was the first recipient in 2002.

Garcia is one of six seniors or graduate seniors among the Top 10 finalists. Sophomore Megan Faraimo was a Top 25 finalist for this season's award.

The list of 10 finalists will be narrowed to three on May 19. The 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed prior to the Women's College World Series on June 1.

The other finalists are Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma), Sis Bates (Washington), Braxton Burnside (Arkansas), Valerie Cagle (Clemson), Carrie Eberle (Oklahoma State), Mary Haff (Arkansas), Tiare Jennings (Oklahoma), Kayla Kowalik (Kentucky) and Gabbie Plain (Washington).