Looking Back at the NCAA Champions: 2019 UCLA Bruins

Photo courtesy NCAA Championships

With the 2024 season underway, all eyes will soon be on the chase for the title.

Early focus will be centered on the University of Oklahoma as they begin the quest to become the first team in Division I history to win four consecutive national championships.

The Sooners tied UCLA (1988, 1989, 1990) as the only teams to ever win three consecutive titles when they defeated Florida State to claim the 2023 title.

Extra Inning Softball will be reviewing the 41 national champions that have previously hoisted the trophy.

*****

2019 UCLA Bruins

The Venue: USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, Oklahoma City, Okla.

The Head Coach: Kelly Inouye-Perez

The Players (Women’s College World Series Roster): Rachel Garcia, Briana Perez, Holly Azevedo, Julie Rodriguez, Megan Faraimo, Malia Quarles, Zia Norris, Stevie Wisz, Kelli Godin, Colleen Sullivan, Anna Vines, Taylor Pack, Danae Blodgett, Aaliyah Jordan, Shea Moreno, Paige Halstead, Jacqui Prober, Alana Snow, Brianna Tautalafua, Kinsley Washington, Zoe Shaw, Bubba Nickles, Maddie Skibitzki

The Regular Season: Entering the 2019 season, it had been eight years since UCLA lifted the national championship trophy. For most programs that’s not an unreasonable amount of time. But UCLA is not most programs as the eight-year gap marked the longest in school history without a national title. UCLA finished the regular season with a 46-5 overall record and finished first in the Pac-12 with a 20-4 record. The Bruins established themselves as title contenders early on as they went 5-0 at the Mary Nutter Classic with wins over Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Kentucky and Colorado State and followed that up with two wins over Florida in the Judi Garman Classic. UCLA featured an explosive offense as the seven Bruin starters had at least a .300 batting average led by Kelli Godin with a .418 average. Bubba Nickles had a brilliant season for the Bruins as she batted .390 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs. Aaliyah Jordan and Briana Perez each hit .383 on the season and Rachel Garcia batted .343 with 11 homers and 57 RBIs. The Bruins were equally as talented in the pitching department as UCLA featured Garcia, Megan Faraimo and Holly Azevedo. Garcia went 29-1 and posted a 1.14 earned run average and struck out 286 in 202.0 innings pitched. Faraimo was 16-4 with a 1.41 ERA and Azevedo went 11-1 with a 2.12 ERA. Garcia (First Team) and Nickles (Second Team) each were named All-America.

The Regional: UCLA began the postseason by hosting the NCAA Los Angeles Regional which featured Weber State, Cal State Fullerton, Missouri and the Bruins. UCLA opened the regional against Weber State and the Bruins rolled to a 6-0 win behind a combined no-hitter from Rachel Garcia and Holly Azevedo. Garcia went 6.0 innings and struck out 13 batters, while Azevedo went the final inning and struck out two batters. Briana Perez and Kinsley Washington each had three hits to lead the Bruins offense. UCLA faced Missouri in game two of the regional and cruised to a 9-1 victory in five innings. Bubba Nickles went 2-for-3 with two home runs and drove in five runs to power the Bruins offense. Nickles opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with a home run and Aaliyah Jordan added a two-run homer later in the first to increase the lead to 3-0. Nickles capped the scoring in the fourth inning with a grand slam that pushed the lead to 9-0. Garcia and Megan Faraimo combined to allow only two hits and no earned runs over the five innings. Missouri rebounded to defeat UCLA 5-1 to force a winner take all game. The Bruins dominated the Tigers behind the bat of Nickles and the pitching of Garcia to secure a berth in the Super Regional. Nickles drove in five runs and Garcia struck out four batters in 5.0 innings and UCLA defeated Missouri 13-1. UCLA jumped out to an 8-0 lead after three innings and never looked back. Nickles went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, while Washington went 2-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs. With the win, the Bruins secured a spot in the Super Regional.

The Super Regional: UCLA stayed at home for the Super Regional as the Bruins hosted James Madison in Los Angeles, Calif. Rachel Garcia dominated game one against the Dukes both in the circle and at the plate leading UCLA to a 6-1 victory. Garcia went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs and also went 7.0 innings and permitted just two hits and struck out 12 batters. James Madison took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a home run by Katie Gordon, but Kinsley Washington scored on an error in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1. Garcia put the Bruins ahead to stay later in the inning with a three-run home run. Garcia added an RBI single in the fourth inning to increase the lead to 6-1. Taylor Pack and Megan Faraimo combined to help lead UCLA to a 7-2 victory over the Dukes in game two and the Bruins secured their 29th trip to the Women’s College World Series. After two scoreless innings, UCLA, as the designated visiting team, scored four in the top of the third. Kelli Godin led off with a bunt single, and one out later, moved to third after a steal of second and a James Madison error. Briana Perez followed with a walk and stole second, and one out later, Garcia singled into left field to plate a pair to make it 2-0. Three pitches later, Pack sent her 11th homer of the season to right-center to up the lead to 4-0. In the fourth, the Bruins added two more, again with two outs. Washington and Godin posted back-to-back, one-out singles and Bubba Nickles walked to load the bases. One out later, Aaliyah Jordan singled into right to bring in Washington and Godin to push the lead to 6-0. Pack hit her second home run of the game in the top of the seventh inning. Rachel Garcia struck out seven in a complete-game four-hitter, giving up two runs and two walks.

The Field at the Women’s College World Series: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Washington

The Bruins at the Women’s College World Series: UCLA opened the WCWS against Minnesota and the Bruins used a pair of home runs and a late outburst to defeat the Golden Gophers. Bubba Nickles began the WCWS with a bang as she belted a home run giving UCLA a 1-0 lead one batter into the game. The Bruins tacked on a run in the second inning on a bases-loaded walk and upped the lead to 3-0 in the third inning when Taylor Pack hit a sacrifice fly. Minnesota trimmed its deficit to one after scoring a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning, but UCLA responded with four in its half of the sixth. With one out, Kinsley Washington singled to left, moved to second on a bunt hit by Kelli Godin and scored when Nickles reached on an error at second base. One out later, Aaliyah Jordan crushed a homer to right to make it 7-2. Game two for the Bruins at the WCWS would come against long-time rival Arizona and Malia Quarles hit a pinch-hit home run in the top of the sixth inning leading the Bruins to a 6-2 win. After two scoreless innings, the Bruins scored in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Rachel Garcia that scored Nickles. Arizona evened the score in the bottom of the third on a solo home run. In the top of the sixth, it was Quarles’ time to shine, as she produced her third pinch-hit homer of the season and fourth overall on a shot to center field to give the Bruins a 2-1 advantage. The Bruins broke it open with four runs in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, Briana Perez singled up the middle and came home on a double to right-center by Jordan to make it 3-1. UCLA added a run on a sacrifice fly by Brianna Tautalafua and two more runs scored on an Arizona error making the score 6-1. Arizona but the lead to 6-2 with a home run, but Garcia closed out the Wildcats to earn the victory. Garcia went 7.0 innings and allowed four hits and struck out six to earn the win. Facing Pac-12 foe Washington in its next game, UCLA secured a berth in the championship finals when Garcia belted a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning giving the Bruins a 3-0 win. Garcia and Taran Alvelo of Washington locked in a pitcher’s duel that remained scoreless until Garcia homered to left giving the Bruins the win.

Join Today to Get Unlimited Access to Extra Inning Softball

Join Now

Already a Extra Inning Member? Log In

SUBSCRIBE

COPYRIGHT © 2024 Extra Inning Softball TM

Check out our other EIS links: