Throwback Thursday: 2019… the “Year of the Bruins” as UCLA Wins WCWS Title, Rachel Garcia Repeats as National Player of the Year

We will never know if UCLA would have repeated in 2020 as National Champions with the cancellation of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic–the Bruins did finish ranked #1 in key nation polls so in a way they did repeat –but one thing is for sure: 2019 was the “Year of the Bruins.”

UCLA won its 12^th softball championship last summer—no one has more in the 38 years that the DI national title has been played (second best is Arizona with eight).

Other stats that make the Bruins’ dominance even more impressive: three UCLA head coaches have won at least two championships—Sharron Backus, Sue Enquist and Kelly Inouye-Perez—and along with the dozen national championships, UCLA has finished 2^nd seven times. And it’s not just the team that’s back on top; pitcher/hitter Rachel Garcia captured her second straight NCAA DI Player of the Year honor in 2019.

And what a ending the Women’s College World Series had as UCLA and Oklahoma battled down to the very last play, which came on a throw to the plate!

In this version of our Throwback Thursday series, here’s a look at the stories we did from 2019 honoring UCLA and all it accomplished last year….

*** Scroll down to read the Extra Inning Softball articles from 2019 that tracked UCLA’s team and player successes…

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