The road was long and sometimes bumpy, but the Bruins made it to the end.
No. 2 seed UCLA softball (56-6, 20-4 Pac-12) wrapped up its season Tuesday by winning the Women’s College World Series. The national title was the program’s 12th and UCLA’s 118th.
“It’s the chemistry that we’ve built, and then going into this year we had a whole group of seniors leading us,” said sophomore shortstop Briana Perez. “Everyone had each other’s backs.”
The Bruins started the season ranked No. 1 in the nation and cruised through nonconference play with only one loss over the 27-game span. They collected victories over top-ranked teams at the time – including Oklahoma, Florida and Mississippi, all of which made postseason runs.
UCLA continued its success through the beginning of Pac-12 play, sweeping three series opponents in a row – including a series win over then-No. 5 Washington. However, as conference play progressed, UCLA dropped games to unranked Oregon and Stanford and lost two of three against then-No. 6 Arizona in its final regular season series.
But the Bruins still won the Pac-12 title and clinched a spot in the postseason.
“Sometimes you just need that loss to pump you up more,” said redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia. “But we did reset as a team and I look at it as a positive, … and it’s good for us either way for the postseason.”
After losing just one game in the regionals and super regionals combined, UCLA headed to Oklahoma City in search of the NCAA title, proceeding to sweep the competition and take the championship in a series against Oklahoma.
Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said throughout the season the Bruins’ strength was their depth. The team’s depth was on full display when sophomore second baseman Kinsley Washington – who hit in the No. 8 spot for most of the season – came through with the walk-off hit to win the title game 5-4.
“The fact that we can be as successful as we’ve been this season with the versatility we’ve had to show says a lot about the players that we are recruiting,” Inouye-Perez said. “We’re recruiting great athletes that work hard in a lot of different positions and situations.”
UCLA also used its depth in the pitching rotation, despite the fact that USA Softball Player of the Year Garcia led the staff with 65 2/3 innings in Oklahoma. Garcia posted a team-low 1.14 ERA across all games, but sophomore Holly Azevedo and freshman Megan Faraimo filled out the rotation, the latter of which pitched 114 innings and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
“I’ve never played with so much talent before,” Faraimo said. “It was a huge stage for me and I’m going to remember it forever.”
The Bruins will have say goodbye to seven seniors this year, including three who were regular presences in UCLA’s starting lineup this season.
Senior Brianna Tautalafua started most of the season at third base and boasted a .938 fielding percentage. Tautalafua also hit two home runs in the championship series, with one putting the Bruins on top going into the last inning of the decisive game.
Senior utility Taylor Pack was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team this season after hitting .369 and driving twelve home runs from the heart of the UCLA lineup. After being listed as an outfielder/catcher on the roster, Pack moved to the infield this season, making only two errors as she split time between first and third base.
“What she’s done in that spot all year long has been super impressive,” Inouye-Perez said. “It’s because of her work ethic. She’s a strong girl, has a strong work ethic. … I’m just sad this is the last year she’s going to be on this stage.”
Senior catcher Paige Halstead was the starting catcher for the majority of the season, catching in every single postseason game. Halstead also worked together with Garcia to make the pitch calls for most of the season.
With the 2019 championship title back in Westwood, Inouye-Perez said that the Bruins will have to recover from the loss of the seniors if they want to make another run at next year’s title.
“We’ve made the (Women’s College) World Series every year since they’ve been here,” Inouye-Perez said. “(The seniors) left their mark here and know that our program is better off because of them.”