Softball Plays Three at Pac-12 Leader Stanford

LOS ANGELES – The No. 12 UCLA softball team will play a three-game series at Pac-12 leader and No. 5-ranked Stanford this week, beginning Friday, April 19 at 7 p.m. (PT) at Smith Family Stadium in Stanford, Calif.
 
The first two games between the Bruins (24-9, 9-3 Pac-12) and Cardinal (34-7, 13-2 Pac-12) will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks while the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
 
Quick Hits
∙ UCLA is 24-9 on the season and 9-3 in Pac-12 play with series wins over Utah, No. 24 Oregon and Oregon State
∙ The Bruins are second in the Pac-12 standings and 2.5 games back of Stanford.
∙ RS Sr. Maya Brady leads UCLA with a .398 average, 10 home runs, 38 runs batted in and 29 runs scored.
∙ For the second straight year, Brady is leading the Pac-12 in slugging percentage with an .806 mark.
∙ Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list (64). She has two multi-homer games this season.
∙ RS Sr. Sharlize Palacios is second on the team with nine home runs.
∙ So. Jordan Woolery has homered in three of her last eight games and has five total on the season.
∙ Fr. Kaitlyn Terry owns a perfect 11-0 record and leads UCLA with a 1.97 earned run average.
∙ Terry is one of three Pac-12 pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA. She has hauled in two Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards.
∙ Kelly Inouye-Perez is one win away from 800 in her head coaching career.
∙ So. Taylor Tinsley has started the most games in the circle for UCLA (17) and recorded an 10-8 record and 2.29 ERA.
∙ The Bruins were picked to finish second in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll (did not receive a first-place vote).
∙ UCLA won its 12th Pac-12 regular-season championship in 2023 with a 21-3 record (17th overall conference title).
 
Last Time Out
UCLA defeated then-No. 20 California last Friday, 3-1, before the final two games of the series were canceled due to rain. Taylor Tinsley struck out nine batters in a complete-game effort to lead UCLA in its win over California. The Bruins recorded just three hits, all of which came from the 1-2-3 spots in the lineup. Maya Brady plated UCLA's first run of the game on a double and subsequent fielding error by the Golden Bears' center fielder in the third inning.
 
One Win Away From 800
UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 799-206-1 record and is one win away from win No. 800 in her career. Inouye-Perez would join UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers and her two predecessors Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist in the 800 win club. Enquist leads UCLA's triad of head coaches with 887 career head coaching wins while Backus owns 854 such wins. Inouye-Perez was coached by both Backus and Enquist in her time as a catcher on the Bruins' roster from 1989-93 and  coached alongside Backus and Enquist as an assistant upon graduating. Only one active Pac-12 head coach has achieved 800 career wins: Heather Tarr at Washington.
Inouye-Perez would become the fifth Pac-12 head coach with 800 career wins while competing as a member of the conference. The SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 each have two head coaches win 800 career games while a member of the respective conference.
 
Terry & Tinsley
UCLA has relied solely on sophomore Taylor Tinsley and freshman Kaitlyn Terry in the circle the last month with the two underclassmen pitching all 76.0 innings over the Bruins' last 12 games. The young duo is tied with Stanford's NiJaree Canady and Reagan Krause for the most complete games in the Pac-12 (16). Terry (1.97 ERA) and Tinsley (2.29 ERA) rank third and fourth in the conference in earned run average, respectively.
 
The two hurlers were highly-touted recruits coming out of their respective states; Terry (Arizona) was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year while Tinsley (Georgia) was the No. 1-ranked pitcher in her the 2021 recruiting class.
 
Stanford Series History; Comparing Pitching Staffs
UCLA leads the all-time series versus Stanford, 101-24, dating back to 1985. The Bruins defeated the Cardinal in all four meetings last year, including the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament semifinal game in Tucson, Ariz. As head coach, Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 38-12 record versus Stanford and is 16-6 when playing in Palo Alto.
Last Season's Series: The Bruins out-scored the Cardinal 9-2 in last year's three-game sweep at Easton Stadium. Megan Grant went 3-for-4 in the series with a double, triple and home run. Grant opened game three with a leadoff homer in the bottom half of the first inning. Then-freshman Taylor Tinsley started game three for the Bruins and turned in 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out three batters.
Pitching: The Bruins and Cardinal boasted the top two pitching staffs in the conference a year ago. Stanford paced the Pac-12 in earned run average (1.53 ERA) and strikeouts (449). UCLA ranked right behind Stanford in both categories with a 1.69 ERA and 416 strikeouts. The Bruins' arms in 2023 also led the Pac-12 in batting average against (.189 BAA).
 
Terry's Impressive Freshman Campaign
Kaitlyn Terry sports a perfect 11-0 record across her 22 appearances this season. Terry's 11 wins are tied for fifth-most in the Pac-12. With a minimum of 45.0 innings pitched, Terry is only pitcher in the Pac-12 without a loss on her record. Her 1.97 ERA ranks third in the conference.
∙ Terry has not allowed more than three runs in a game since late February (four runs allowed on Feb. 23 vs. Nebraska).
∙ Terry has went at least 5.0 innings in each of her last six starts and picked up a win in five of those games. In that span, Terry recorded a 0.98 ERA and struck out 25 batters of 35.2 innings.
∙ Terry leads all Pac-12 freshmen in wins (11), ERA (1.97), strikeouts (84), innings pitched (88.2) and shutouts (5).
∙ Terry was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks (March 18 & 25). The southpaw put forth her most dominant outing of the season with a complete-game shutout in game three at Washington on March 24. She needed just 81 pitches, limiting the Huskies to two hits and a walk. Terry's performance marked the first shutout by a UCLA freshman versus a top-10 opponent since April 7, 2017, when Rachel Garcia shutout then-No. 1 Oregon. Terry retired the last 11 Huskies of the game and flashed the leather in the fourth inning, starting a 1-6-3 double play.
∙ Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2. The 12 strikeouts are tied with Megan Faraimo (2019) and Rachel Garcia (2017) for the most by a Bruins' freshman over the last 15 years. Donna Kerr was the last UCLA freshman to rack up 12+ strikeouts, recording 15 in a win over Northwestern on March 9, 2008.
 
Notes on Tinsley
Sophomore Taylor Tinsley has shown consistent improvement since week one of the season. In 2024, Tinsley owns a 2.29 ERA and 119 strikeouts over 100.2 innings pitched after totaling just 57.1 innings of work all of last season in her All-Pac-12 Freshman Team campaign. Tinsley, the first UCLA softball player from the state of Georgia, was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 26 following her performances at the Mary Nutter Classic. 
close losses: Four of Tinsley's eight losses this season have come in one-run ballgames. Tinsley allowed one earned run or less in all four of those losses.
game one starter: Tinsley has been the game one starter in four of UCLA's five Pac-12 series this season. She has started two games in two of the full three-game series (excludes Oregon Series, which had game three rained out).
at the Mary Nutter: Tinsley allowed just two earned runs across three complete-game performances and 22.0 total innings pitched at the Mary Nutter. Among all the pitchers competing at the Mary Nutter (30 teams participating), Tinsley ranked first in innings pitched (22.0) and strikeouts looking (10) and tied for first in strikeouts (30).
vs. Utah: Tinsley picked up two wins, struck out 16 batters and did not allow an earned run over 10.2 innings to help the Bruins to a series sweep of Utah (March 8-10). In her game one victory, Tinsley threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball and allowed only one base runner into scoring position. She finished her outing with nine strikeouts and surrendered just two hits. She limited the Pac-12 batting average leader entering the series, Haley Denning, to 0-for-6 with two Ks.
vs. Oregon: Tinsley allowed just one earned run and was the winning pitcher in both of UCLA's two games versus then-No. 20 Oregon (March 28-29). In game one of the series, Tinsley entered in relief and got the Bruins out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning with a strikeout. She retired the Ducks in order in the seventh on just six pitches to close the game. Tinsley turned in 4.0 solid innings in her game two start, allowing just one run.
 
Brady's Season
Brady's big fly versus Cal State Fullerton in the first inning marked her team-leading 10th homer of the season. Brady now has double-digit home runs in all four full seasons of her career (excludes 2020). Brady also leads the Pac-12 with an .806 slugging percentage through 33 games this season; she led the Pac-12 in slugging last season with an .866 mark.
∙ With runners in scoring position, Brady leads the entire NCAA with 696 average (16-for-29) and 1.478 slugging percentage.
∙ Brady also paces the Bruins in average (.398), runs batted in (38), total bases (79), extra-brase hits (19), walks (18), and on-base percentage (.496).
∙ Brady has recorded a team-leading 14 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games.
∙ In her last 10 games, Brady boasts a .433 average, .933 slugging percentage, .514 on-base percentage, four home runs and eight runs batted in. All marks lead the team in that span.
∙ Brady notched her second two-homer game of the season and eighth of her career in the series finale at then-No. 8 Washington on March 24. Her other two-homer game occurred versus then-No.  7 Florida State at the Clearwater Invitational on Feb. 16.
∙ The shortstop has shored up on the defensive side of the ball as well with just one error in the month of March (16 games). Since March 1, Brady's fielding percentage has improved 99 points from .813 to .912. This season marks Brady's second campaign as UCLA's starting shortstop. She took over the role full-time on March 3, 2023 after Seneca Curo sustained a season-ending injury. She has started at shortstop in 80 career games.
∙ In 2023, Brady was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 3 Finalist in addition to being a consensus First Team All-American. Brady led UCLA with a .448 average, 18 home runs, 59 RBI, 63 runs scored, 33 extra-base hits and 149 total bases last season.
 
Brady in the Record Books
Career Home Runs: Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list with 64. Although she won't touch Stacey Nuveman's program record (90 HR), Brady needs three home runs to pass Stephany LaRosa (2012-15) with 66 career home runs for second all-time. Brady's two-homer game versus Washington on March 24 pushed her passed Tairia Mims (2000-03) and Delaney Spaulding (2014-17) with 61 career homers.
Career Two-Homer Games: Brady's two homers against the Huskies on March 24 marked the eighth multi-homer game of her career which is the third most by a Bruin in UCLA history. She moved out of a tie with LaRosa and B.B. Bates  (2010-13) with seven. Andrea Harrison (2009-12) ranks second in UCLA history with nine multi-homer games while Stacey Nuveman is first with 12.
Career RBI: Brady became the seventh Bruin to reach 200 career RBI with her grand slam in the second inning of UCLA's 12-1 victory over Utah on March 10. Brady is up to 216 RBI in her career and needs 13 more to surpass Tairia Mims and Stephany Larosa for third on UCLA's all-time list with 228.
Career Runs Scored: Brady has tallied 199 career runs scored and needs one more run to move out of a tie with Katie Schroeder's (2008-12) for fourth place on UCLA's all-time list.
Career Slugging Percentage: Brady's career slugging percentage keeps ballooning every week. Her current career mark of .751 ranks third all-time in UCLA history and is four points shy of LaRosa's .755 slugging percentage.
 
Palacios Pointers
Redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios is enjoying her best season in Westwood with nine home runs, 26 RBI and a .733 slugging percentage. Palacios earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career on March 11 after going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam during UCLA's bye week contests versus Rutgers and LMU.
∙ Defensively, behind the dish, Palacios has yet to commit an error and has thrown out seven runners attempting to steal.  
∙ In the Bruins' six road games this year, Palacios leads UCLA with a .471 average (8-for-17), .609 on-base percentage and .882 slugging percentage with a double and two home runs.
∙ Palacios is approaching a couple of career milestones. The backstop is nine hits shy of No. 200 and 13 RBI shy of No. 200 in her five-year career. Palacios belted the 50th homer of her career with the first of her two home runs versus then-No. 5 Tennessee at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Feb. 25.
∙ Palacios leads all Bruins on the active roster with six career grand slams and ranks second behind Brady with four career multi-homer games.
∙ Palacios has been named to the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team in her two years as a first-string catcher (2023 with UCLA and 2022 with Arizona). She was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team twice at Arizona in her roles as the primary designated player in 2021 and catcher in 2022. Palacios was picked to the All-Pac-12 Second Team last season for UCLA.
 
In the Polls
∙ UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 12 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and No. 11 ESPN/USA Softball Poll.
∙ In addition, the Bruins have been slotted in the No. 2 spot in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office on Feb. 1. Stanford was selected as the league's preseason favorite, garnering seven of nine first-place votes. Washington and Utah each received one first-place vote.
 
The Allchin Addition
∙ Allchin, a graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23), has provided clutch hits for the Bruins. In the fifth inning or later this season, Allchin is batting for a .454 average (15-for-33) with 10 RBI and 13 runs scored.
∙ Allchin has converted on all 12 RBI opportunities with a runner on third base and less than two outs. Her latest successful opportunity came versus then-No. 20 California last Friday when she hit a sacrifice fly to score Maya Brady.
∙ On March 12 versus Rutgers, Allchin delivered a walk-off single. Three days prior to that, Allchin played the hero in game two of UCLA's home series with Utah by knocking in the game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. At the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Allchin doubled in a run to spark a five-run seventh inning to help UCLA walk-off on Nebraska on Feb. 23.
∙ Allchin has been a mainstay in the top half of the Bruins' lineup the last month. In the Bruins' two games versus Oregon on March 28-29, Allchin went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and a triple. Allchin swiped two bases in game two versus Oregon on March 29, marking the first time this season a Bruin has stole more than one base in a game
∙ Defensively, Allchin has recorded two outfield assists this season: one from left field in the Bruins' 6-2 win over Tennessee on Feb. 25. and one from center field against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11. She has totaled five outfield assists in her career.
∙ Allchin is one of seven regular UCLA starters batting above .300 with a .304 clip on the year (28 hits).
 
UCLA in Pinch-Hitting Situations
The Bruins are batting .412 (14-for-34) in pinch-hitting situations this season. Six different players have been called upon to pinch hit. Ramsey Suarez leads the Bruins with four pinch hits and four RBI when coming off the bench. Suarez has gone 3-for-3 in pinch-hitting scenarios in her last three home games at Easton Stadium. Suarez reached twice during the Oregon series (March 28-29) on two pinch-hit singles. Her two-RBI single in the bottom of the sixth in game one versus the Ducks on March 28 proved to be the difference in a 5-3 win. Stephens owns UCLA's only pinch-hit homer of the season, occurring versus Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2.
 
Five Bruins Selected to Compete for Team USA
Five current and former members of the UCLA softball program have been selected to the U.S. Women's National Softball Team rosters for the 2024 Japan All-Star Series and World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women's World Cup. Sophomore Megan Grant will compete with Team USA at the Japan All-Star Series across three Japanese cities from July 4-8 while redshirt senior Maya Brady, Megan Faraimo (2019-23), Rachel Garcia (2016-19, 2021) and Ally Carda (2012-15) will compete at the WBSC World Cup Final in Castions de Strada, Italy slated for July 15-21.
∙ UCLA is tied with Oklahoma in terms of most athletes represented on the two rosters.
∙ Garcia is one of four 2020 Olympians on the WBSC World Cup roster.
∙ Brady, Faraimo and Carda all competed at the WBSC World Cup Group Stage in Dublin, Ireland last summer. Brady started all four games at first base and tallied five runs batted in and scored four runs to help Team USA punch its ticket to the XVII WBSC World Cup Final.
∙ Grant will be making her second straight appearance at the Japan All-Star Series. In game one of last year's event, Grant went 4-for-6 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored in Team USA's 12-11 extra-inning victory over Team Japan. Grant started all three games in right field.
 
Chef is Cooking
Megan Grant's fourth-inning grand slam versus Oregon on March 29 marked her third big fly of the season and first since March 2 versus DePaul. Grant now has two grand slams to her name, including her shot at then-No. 24 Arizona in April 2023. This season, Grant ranks second on the squad with a .364 batting average and 36 hits.
 
Grant was a NFCA Second Team All-American, NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 10 Finalist and All-Pac-12 First Team selection last season. The Bay Area native led the squad with 14 doubles and ranked second with 15 homers, 58 RBI, 31 extra-base hits and .695 slugging percentage. She ranked second among all freshman in the NCAA and led all Pac-12 freshmen with 58 RBI. Grant turned it up in conference play last season with a .403 batting average.
 
Stephens Stepping Up
Taylor Stephens has been inserted into the starting in each of the last five games (three starts at designated player, two starts in right field). Stephens has reached base safely in four of those games, including three by way of a base hit. Stephens recorded an RBI double each of the Bruins' first two games at Oregon State on April 5 and 6.
 
Notable Trends
Walk-Offs: UCLA has three walk-off wins in the seventh inning through 28 games this season.
Coming From Behind: UCLA's opponents have scored first in 16 of its 33 games this season. The Bruins own a 9-7 record in games where their opponent scores first. In 2023, UCLA's opponents scored first in only 13 of its 59 total games. Additionally, UCLA's opponents have scored in the first inning 11 times this season compared to last season in which opponents scored in the first inning only eight times in 59 total games.
 
Perfect vs. the Big Ten
UCLA went a perfect 6-0 versus its scheduled Big Ten Conference opponents this season with wins over Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan and Rutgers. UCLA Athletics announced its decision to join the Big Ten Conference on June 30, 2022. This move will go into effect at the start of the 2024-25 season.
 
Celebrating the Pac-12
The 2024 season marks UCLA's final as a member of the Pac-10/12 Conference. UCLA softball has been a member of the conference since 1987 (37 years) and has won 12 regular-season conference championships as a Pac-12 member institution. There have been 21 NCAA Division I Softball Championships won by five different Pac-12 Conference member schools in the tournament's 40-year history, which leads all conferences (UCLA - 9, Arizona - 8, Arizona State - 2, Washington - 1, California - 1).