The Bruins are set to face some familiar teams in a familiar site.
No. 2 UCLA softball (9-0) will head to Cathedral City, California, on Thursday for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, squaring off against six opponents in four days – No. 23 Texas A&M, No. 4 Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, No. 20 Kentucky and Colorado State.
“This weekend will definitely challenge us with all of the opponents we have,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “Good competition is always what we’re looking for because it’s a good opportunity to find out where we are.”
The Bruins are coming off their second consecutive perfect weekend, breaking some records in the process.
Freshman pitcher and Pac-12 Freshman of the Week Megan Faraimo threw a no-hitter in her second career start against Fresno State on Saturday. UCLA also scored a record-breaking 16 runs in the first inning against UC Riverside on Sunday.
Redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the second week in a row.
In her two complete games last weekend, Garcia struck out 27 batters without any walks while only allowing 10 hits and one run. She has at least 13 strikeouts in three of her four starts this season. At the plate, Garcia went 4-for-7 with one home run and two doubles and drove in three runs.
The Bruins will look to continue their success this weekend, when they go up against ranked opponents for the first time this season.
Freshman utility player Anna Vines said UCLA is ready for what is considered “the next step” in the early part of the season.
“I think we’ve prepared well and did what we needed to do this past weekend and the weekend before,” Vines said. “For me, I just have to keep doing the best I can and keep moving runners over.”
Against the Mary Nutter field, UCLA has a winning record over all but one team they will face.
The Bruins have the 12-11 edge over the Aggies in the all-time series matchup. The last time the two teams met was in the 2017 Women’s College World Series, when UCLA bested Texas A&M in the elimination bracket.
Against the Sooners, the Bruins have not found much success in their all-time series. Oklahoma has the 9-4 advantage, including victories in the last two meetings in the 2016 and 2017 College World Series.
The last time UCLA played against Kentucky was when the two teams split a doubleheader at Easton Stadium back in 2017.
The Bruins have winning streaks against of the rest of the opponents they will face this weekend. UCLA has won its last five games against Missouri, 11 games against Nebraska and nine games against Colorado State. The Bruins shut out both the Missouri Tigers and Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 2018 Mary Nutter classic 4-0 and 5-0, respectively.
This will be the 13th annual Mary Nutter classic and the Bruins have been in it since its inaugural year.
Sophomore infielder Briana Perez – who leads the team with 16 hits and has six multihit games – said that it is one of her favorite tournaments of the season because of the competition and the chance of seeing old teammates.
“All the teams that come in are amazing and there’s always so much great competition,” Perez said. “Seeing all of my old travel ball friends and girls that I’ve grown up playing with is great too.”