UCLA softball earns sixth seed, will host Los Angeles Regional to kick off NCAA tournament – ​​Orange County Register

The UCLA softball team earned the No. 6 national seed in the NCAA tournament on Sunday, as announced during ESPN’s bracket reveal show.

The Bruins will host the Los Angeles Regional at Easton Stadium and will first face Grand Canyon (48-11) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Unranked San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton will also participate in the tournament.

UCLA (37-10) was crowned the Pac-12 regular season champion and beat Utah 2-1 to win the Pac-12 Tournament on Saturday. Sharlize Palacios hit her fifth home run in the last 11 games to get the championship game underway.

“We click in a very special way,” said Palacios, the Pac-12 tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“It doesn’t take one Bruin to win a ball game for us. We had a lot of players capable of scoring the game-winning goal for us, so it will take all of the Bruins to get us to OKC, but I think it will be a special ride for us.

Maya Brady is the back-to-back Pac-12 Player of the Year and has been a major part of the offense with a team-leading .403 batting average and 15 home runs. Pitchers Taylor Tinsley (15-8) and Kaitlyn Terry (18-1) own 2.44 and 3.25 ERAs, respectively.

UCLA is on an eight-game winning streak but has struggled to achieve consistent results until midway through the season.

“We are very happy with the journey and we have trusted the process throughout this season,” Palacios said. “We have delved deeper into the Bruin magic and taking it to the next level has been our mantra. Now we can just play, have fun and trust each other.

San Diego State (31-18) and Virginia Tech will also play in the double-elimination Los Angeles Regional.

The Aztecs, who also began graduation Sunday, have eight seniors on their roster. The Mountain West regular season champions defeated Boise State for the conference tournament title on Saturday.

Junior utility Mac Barbara was named the Mountain West tournament’s Most Valuable Player and ranks first in program history in on-base percentage (.481) and OPS percentage (1.221).