UCLA Softball's Maya Brady Named National Player of the Week
The Bruins' slugger has already been honored for her performance in the first week of the 2023 campaign.
No. 2 UCLA softball (6-0) swept the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament to begin its season, and junior utility Maya Brady capitalized on the hot start by winning National Player of the Week honors from D1Softball, Extra Inning Softball and Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Graduate outfielder Aaliyah Jordan was the most recent Bruin to win the NFCA Player of the Week award, doing so on Feb. 18, 2020.
Through six games this season, Brady has hit 13-for-16 with four home runs and 13 RBI. The Thousand Oaks, California, native also nearly set a UCLA record at the start of nonconference action.
Brady tied a 24-year-old record – most recently reached by Lisa Fernandez and Stacey Nuveman in 1993 and 1999, respectively – when she collected 10 hits in a row.
Across the NCAA, Brady is currently leading the nation with 24 total bases, and she is tied for first with her four home runs.
Brady went hitless in the Bruins' season opener against Cal State Fullerton. But after getting the first game out of the way, the 5-foot-10 left-handed hitter raked.
On Sunday against UC San Diego, Brady went 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI.
In the final game of the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, UCLA was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh and Brady walked up to the plate. Brady ended the contest with a walk-off three-run home run to cap off the weekend and help UCLA continue its undefeated start to the season.
UCLA will play one more game against at Easton Stadium against Liberty on Tuesday before heading to Clearwater, Florida, for the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational. There, Brady and the Bruins will face off against Nebraska, Alabama, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Louisiana.
Although it may seem impossible for Brady to keep up her torrid pace, the former freshman All-American and All-Pac-12 standout could just be getting started.
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