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UCLA Softball: Maya Brady, Bruins One Win Away from Women's College World Series

Tom Brady's niece showcased her prowess on the diamond with a scorching performance at Easton Stadium.

Maren Angus-Coombs

Photo Credit: Ross Turteltaub

Maya Brady is swinging one of the hottest bats in college softball.

She just lit Easton Stadium on fire when she delivered a multi-home run performance on Thursday night against the No. 11 Georgia Bulldogs.

The back-to-back Pac-12 Player of the Year went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double propelling the No. 6 UCLA Bruins to an 8-0, run-rule victory in six innings over Georgia in the first game of the best-of-three Super Regional series.

“I’ll just say this: Game 1 is always the biggest one,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez told reporters after the game. “We’ve got to be able to appreciate tonight, get some rest and come back because I guarantee it’ll be a dogfight tomorrow.”

The mercy-rule victory is the first for UCLA in the Super Regional round since 2010 against Louisiana. The Bruins went on to win their 11th national title that season. Game 2 of the series is Friday at 7 p.m. and the if necessary game would be Saturday.

Brady is 9-for-12 in four postseason games with six extra-base hits and five RBIs. She led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run and the UCLA offense never looked back.

“It’s just literally trying to put my team in the best position to get us a dub at the end of the day or at least a little room against a swinging team like (Georgia,)” Brady said. “Everything I do is for my teammates.”

Freshman pitch Kaitlyn Terry pitched a complete game giving up four hits, walking three, and striking out five in her Super Regional debut.

Jordan Woolery hit UCLA’s third home run of the night in the bottom of the fifth, blasting one to dead center field scoring Jadelyn Allchin and pinch runner Gabriel Jaquez, who joined the softball program for this role specifically this postseason.

Savannah Pola ended the game with a single to right field scoring pinch runner Taylor Stephens and Allchin.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite being raised in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer for the LA Sports Report Network.

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