Second-Seeded Bruins Host LBSU to Open L.A. Regional

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Los Angeles Regional Tournament Central Page

Los Angeles Regional Schedule
Friday, May 21
Game 1 – Fresno State vs. Minnesota - 5 p.m. - ESPNU
Game 2 – Long Beach State at No. 2 UCLA - 7:30 p.m. - ESPN2

Saturday, May 22
Game 3 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 1:30 p.m. – ESPN Family of Networks
Game 4 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 4 p.m. – ESPN Family of Networks
Game 5 – Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner – 6:30 p.m. – ESPN Family of Networks

Sunday, May 23
Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 3 p.m. – ESPN Family of Networks
Game 7 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (if necessary) – 5:30 p.m. – ESPN Family of Networks

SECOND-SEEDED BRUINS HOST LOS ANGELES REGIONAL
The second-seeded Bruins open their National Championship defense this weekend, hosting the Los Angeles Regional at Easton Stadium. The first matchup will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Long Beach State. The game will air on ESPN2. All games of the Los Angeles Regional will be televised on the ESPN Family of Networks. Tickets will not be available to the general public for the Los Angeles Regional. A limited number of team guests are permitted at UCLA outdoor sporting events. Non-ticketed guests should not come to Easton Stadium.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The winner of the Los Angeles Regional will advance to next weekend's Super Regionals, where they will face the winner of the Tempe Regional, which consists of No. 15-seed Arizona State, Virginia Tech, BYU and Southern Illinois. Super Regionals will be a best 2-of-3 series, taking place at eight campus sites starting on Thursday, May 27.

BRUINS IN NCAA REGIONAL PLAY
UCLA is making its tournament-record 36th appearance in the NCAA Softball Championship and holds a record of 219-59 (.788 winning percentage). During the Regional round, the Bruins are 100-16 (.862) and have gone undefeated 23 times. Since Regional play moved to a four-team format in 2005, the Bruins are 42-11 (.792), advancing to Supers in '05-'06, '08-'10 and '14-'19. UCLA is hosting a Regional for the 25th time and is 66-7 (.904) in 24 previous Regionals at Easton and 84-12 (.875) overall during postseason games in Westwood. UCLA's past performances in the NCAA Tournament are available on page 42 of this release.

BRUINS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS (THROUGH 5/16)
Team Rankings
Earned Run Average (2nd, 1.17)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (2nd, 6.05)
Shutouts (T-3rd, 19)
Winning Percentage (4th, .911)
On Base Percentage (7th, .421)
Batting Average (8th, .329)
Slugging Percentage (8th, .578)
Fielding Percentage (12th, .978)
Runs Per Game (15th, 6.51)
Home Runs (T-16th, 66)
Doubles (T-21st, 74)
Walks (T-21st, 174)

Megan Faraimo
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (1st, 15.60)
Walks Allowed Per Seven Innings (5th, 0.59)
Hits Allowed Per Seven Innings (12th, 3.57)
Earned Run Average (18th, 1.19)
Shutouts (T-29th, 6)
Wins (T-48th, 17)

Rachel Garcia
Earned Run Average (1st, 0.60)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (21st, 6.20)
Hits Allowed Per Seven Innings (22nd, 3.95)
Slugging Percentage (50th, .766)

Briana Perez
Triples (T-16th, 5)
Runs Scored (T-35th, 47)

Aaliyah Jordan
Walks (T-27th, 32)

RACHEL GARCIA NAMED TOP 3 FINALIST FOR USA SOFTBALL COLLEGIATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior Rachel Garcia has been named one of three finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, as announced on Wednesday.

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. The other finalists are Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma) and Gabbie Plain (Washington). The award will be revealed prior to the Women's College World Series on June 1.

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.

MAYA BRADY NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season, Maya Brady has been named Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Week, as announced on Monday. Brady had a hot bat in the desert at Arizona last weekend, helping the Bruins clinch the Pac-12 title.

Brady was 6-for-12 (.500) with a pair of home runs, four runs batted in and three runs scored. She opened the weekend with a bang, hitting the third of three-consecutive homers for UCLA in the top of the first inning on Thursday. It was the first of Brady's two jacks in the game, adding one in the fourth, the first time she has done that in her career. The freshman added a single, a double and a stolen base in game one of Friday's doubleheader. Brady completed the weekend with a pair of doubles on Saturday, including one that drove in two runs.

GARCIA NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR, INOUYE-PEREZ PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR
For the third time in her career, senior Rachel Garcia was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year, as announced on Sunday. Head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez was honored as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the second time (2009), while eight of her players were honored on the All-Conference Teams.

Garcia was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team, as were juniors Aaliyah Jordan and Briana Perez, sophomore Megan Faraimo and freshman Maya Brady. Junior Delanie Wisz earned Pac-12 All-Second Team accolades, while junior Kinsley Washington picked up Third Team honors. Brady and Alyssa Garcia were named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and Perez and Washington earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team plaudits.

Garcia joins UCLA's Lisa Longaker (1987-1988, 1990), Lisa Fernandez (1991-1993) and Stacey Nuveman (1999, 2001-2002) and Arizona State's Kaitlin Cochran (2007-2009) as one of five players to be named Pac-12 Player of the Year three times. Garcia is also the seventh Bruin to earn four all-conference First Team honors along with Fernandez, Longaker, Nuveman, Stephany LaRosa, Janice Parks and Natasha Watley.

Jordan and Perez will each have the chance to join that list next season after both picked up their third All-Pac-12 First Team honors. The five First Team honors were the most of any Pac-12 team. Faraimo earned her second All-Pac-12 First Team award, while Brady posted her first. Washington and Wisz were honored on an All-Pac-12 Team for the first time, Perez was named All-Pac-12 Defensive for the third time and Washington earned her first All-Defensive honor.

BRUINS VERSUS THE LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FIELD
UCLA just faced Long Beach State on May 5 in a road doubleheader, winning both games by a score of 5-1 and 10-2 in five innings (box scores on pages 19 and 20). The Bruins hold a 76-10 all-time advantage over The Beach, a 32-1 edge at Easton Stadium and a 9-0 record in the NCAA Tournament ... the Bruins are 8-0 all-time against Minnesota, including a 4-0 victory at Easton Stadium in the penultimate game of the COVID-shortened 2020 season and a 7-2 triumph in the opening game of the 2019 Women's College World Series, one of two postseason wins against the Golden Gophers ... the Bruins opened the 2021 season versus the Fresno State, recording a 7-0 victory on Feb. 12 (box score on page 21) to improve to 48-11 all-time against the Bulldogs. UCLA is 15-1 at home against Fresno and 13-3 in the NCAA Tournament.

MORE NOTES
--The Bruins picked up the program's 11th Pac-12 Championship with Friday's win at Arizona, and their first solo title since 2009.
--With their win in the second game of the May 8 doubleheader versus Stanford, the Bruins reached 2,000 program victories.
--The Bruins have scored in the first inning in 24 of 45 games, with their 60 runs scored their second-highest total in any inning this season (61, 5th inning). UCLA has also closed games strong, outscoring the competition 118-14 in the fifth, sixth and seventh.
--The Bruins this season are undefeated when scoring first (33-0), when scoring at least five runs (33-0), when allowing two runs or less (37-0), when out-hitting their opponent (37-0) and when leading after four innings (32-0). UCLA is also 25-1 at home, 23-1 when scoring in the first innings and 36-1 when hitting a home run.
--Senior Rachel Garcia allowed just one earned run in 11 innings at Arizona last weekend, striking out 10, to improve to 14-0 on the season. She has allowed zero or one earned run in all 22 of her appearances, reaching double figures in strikeouts five times, including May 5 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 29 of her 36 games. The senior left the yard in each of the first two games of the series at Arizona last weekend. 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 37 of 45 games, and 47 of 55 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 11th home run in the first game of a doubleheader against Stanford (May 8). The team leader in multiple-hit games with 14, 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 33 of 45 games, including multiples 13 times.
--Freshman Maya Brady enters her first postseason on a hot stretch, as she has hits in 13 of her last 27 at-bats (.481) over the last 10 games with seven RBI and eight runs. The reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week had a trio of two-hit games last weekend at Arizona, including the first two-homer contest of her career in Thursday's series opener and her first two-double game in Saturday's series finale. Brady tied a season high with three hits at LBSU on May 5, a feat she first accomplished on March 21 against Arizona State when she set career highs with six RBI and three hits, which led to her earning Pac-12 Player and Freshman of the Week honors. Brady homered at Utah (May 2), in both ends of an April 24 doubleheader versus Washington and in the series finale versus OSU (April 18). She also homered in each of the last three games of the ASU series, and against San Jose State (March 7) and UCSB (March 11). Brady has hits in 29 of her 40 games, including an 11-game hitting streak from March 3-April 9 (14-for-25, .560, 5 HR, 18 RBI).
--Junior Delanie Wisz took over the team home run lead with bombs in each of the first two games at Arizona, which gave her homers in three in a row. In that three-game stretch, she drove in eight runs and went 6-for-10. Wisz's final game versus Stanford (May 9) marked her second three-hit game of the season after posting three at Utah on May 1. The junior is second on the team with 10 multiple-RBI games and tied for second with 10 multi-hit contests. In Pac-12 play, Wisz also had homers against Stanford, 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 31 of 45 games. Wisz, who has played third and first base, has also caught in 17 games, having thrown out four runners from behind the plate.
--Junior Aaliyah Jordan made it home runs in six-straight, Pac-12 series' after leaving the yard in game one last Thursday at Arizona. She added a double in that game, and didn't get much to hit for the rest of the series, walking six times in the last two contests, including a career-high four in Friday's second game. Jordan has walked 16 times in her last 11 games. Five of her last six home runs have come in the opening game of a series (Stanford, 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 10 multiple-hit games and seven multi-RBI contests, producing four of them in the same game. She tied a personal best with four RBI versus LMU on Feb. 21.
--Sophomore Megan Faraimo posted her sixth double-figure strikeout contest of the season in game one of Friday's doubleheader at Arizona when she had 10. Faraimo had a stretch of 29 2/3 scoreless innings snapped in the seventh inning of that contest, but she has still allowed zero or one earned run in 18 of her 24 appearances. Faraimo set a new career high with 17 strikeouts in a one-hit shutout of Oregon State on April 17. 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). 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. 
--Junior Kinsley Washington broke open a close game in Saturday's series finale at Arizona with a three-run homer, her third bomb of the season. She has eight multiple-hit games, recording hits in eight of her last 14, reaching base in three of four last weekend. Once she gets on base, Washington has stolen 15 of 16. Second on the team 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 on March 20 against ASU. She had a stretch of five-straight, multiple-hit games from March 1-11.
--Junior Holly Azevedo has been outstanding in her last nine appearances, posting a 7-1 record and 39 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings, allowing just seven earned runs (1.05 earned run average) and dropping her season ERA from 4.10 to 1.74. 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 42-2 career record.
--Sophomore Kelli Godin has hits in 10 of her last 16, batting .368 (14-for-38) 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 28 of 45 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 the highest batting average on the team entering the postseason at .373. She had a seven-game hitting streak from April 23-May 13, batting .647 (11-for-17) with three RBI. Vines went 3-for-3 in game one at Arizona, the second time she has done that this season. The first was at Fullerton on Feb. 20 when she hit her second-career home run. Vines hit her third-career homer on May 5 at Long Beach State, also producing a double and three runs. Vines added two-hit games against Stanford (May 7), Oregon State (April 16), Oregon (April 10) and UNLV (March 12) to give her seven multiple-hit contests.
--Freshman Alyssa Garcia had hits in two of the three games she played in against Stanford, including an RBI single in game one on May 7. Garcia singled on Thursday at Arizona. 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 223 chances (.996 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 May 7 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 15 of UCLA's last 17 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 May 9 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 May 8 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 on May 8 against Stanford, driving in two, scoring twice and reaching on a walk. She also had a single and a bases-loaded walk on May 5 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.