Junior softball pitcher Ally Carda was announced as the Pac-12 Player of the Year on Wednesday, adding yet another accolade to what has been a career year for Carda thus far.
Carda, who is also one of 10 finalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year award, has led the No. 2 Bruins with both her arm and her bat. In UCLA’s 48 victories this season, Carda has been the winning pitcher in 29 of them. Also, Carda is tied for the team lead with 54 RBI and is second on the team with a .708 slugging percentage.
While Carda has been a standout pitcher for the entire season, her power numbers at the plate have improved significantly in conference play. During the Bruins last 27 regular season games, Carda hit 10 of her 13 home runs.
Not only did Carda increase her home run total during the second half of the season, but she produced some of the home runs when UCLA needed them most. On May 4 against Stanford, Carda hit a two-run home run in the sixth, which gave UCLA a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. She repeated her clutch home run hitting last week, blasting a game-tying home run in the seventh inning and a lead-changing home run in the ninth inning in UCLA’s 9-5 victory over No. 4 Arizona State.
Compiled by Matthew Joye, Bruin Sports contributor.