UCLA Women's Softball: 2024 Bruins Resolve To Bounce Back After Shocking End To 2023 Season

UCLA has added another level of mental preparation ahead of the 2024 season.

Before practice, the UCLA Bruins are spread out from the outfield to the dugout and maybe even in the clubhouse. For 10 minutes, each player has her headphones on listening to some type of instrumental track with her closed.

“Going on this mindfulness journey has really allowed me to take a different approach to game day. Maybe instead of getting anxious and butterflies and thinking about everything that can go wrong in a way, it’s really changed my mindset into thinking about everything that can go right.”

Maya Brady via Los Angeles Times

The end of last season was like a script out of a horror movie. The Bruins were the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning 52 regular season games which was the most in the NCAA and for the program since 2001. 

Their season ended on a three-game losing streak and the Bruins flamed out with an epic collapse. 

Throwing punches all 2024 👊💥#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/GQeji5F77J

— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) January 11, 2024

Instead of rebuilding, head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez is choosing to "level up."

She hopes that the added mental preparation will help her team climb John Wooden's pyramid of success and be at their best when it is needed.

“It’s a game of mental, it’s not as much physical. If you’re mentally prepared, which is what leveling up helps us do, that does help us achieve competitive greatness at the end of the day.”

Taylor Tinsley via Los Angeles Times

When UCLA opens its season on Thursday against Cal State Fullerton, the Bruins are taking the field on a foundation laid by legends before them and begin a new script.

With an ending at the Women's College World Series instead of heartbreak at home.