May 18, 2023 | Los Angeles, Sports, Valleys

Lady Bruins Highlight PAC-12 Post Season Awards

UCLA’s Maya Brady was voted Pac-12 Player of the Year and is conference batting champion with a .451 average for the campaign. Teammate Megan Faraimo earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year honors. Jordan Woolery was named Conference Freshman of the Year; and Bruin head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez claimed Pac-12 Coach of the Year accolades.

Jordan Woolery was named PAC-12 Freshman of the Year (Courtesy Photo)

By Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer

Megan Faraimo (8) earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year honors (Courtesy Photo)

Faraimo has a win in each of her last 15 appearances in the circle on her way to a 28-2 record, 1.11 ERA and 215 strikeouts. Earlier this season, she set a career-long scoreless inning streak of 35.2 innings and boasts a miniscule WHIP of 0.77.

The Redshirt Senior is one of four pitchers in UCLA history with 100 career wins and is 17 strikeouts away from becoming the third in UCLA history to record 1,000 career strikeouts. Now a four-time All-Pac-12 first-team honoree, she is also one of 10 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

The former Cathedral Catholic high standout is the sixth in Conference history to win consecutive Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year awards and first since Oregon’s Cheridan Hawkins won a record three straight in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Other back-to-back winners are California Jolene Henderson (2011, 2012), Washington’s Danielle Lawrie (2009, 2010), Arizona State’s Katie Burkhart (2007, 2008) and Arizona’s Jennie Finch (2001, 2002).

Woolery is Third in the Conference in batting average (.409). The Walnut Creek native is fifth in the country among freshmen in that category and also has 10 home runs and 45 RBIs during her debut season. She is one of three freshmen nationally batting over .400 with 10+ home runs and 40+ RBIs along with Indiana’s Taryn Kern (.438, 22 HR, 67 RBIs) and Northern Iowa’s Alexis Pupillo (.416, 15 HR, 46 RBI). Woolery was even better in Conference, batting .427 with a league-high tying 32 hits in 24 Pac-12 games. A Top 25 Finalist for TUCCI/NFCA Freshman of the Year, she is UCLA’s ninth Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and first since Megan Faraimo in 2019.

Inouye-Perez led the No. 2 Bruins to a 21-3 league record in 2023 to capture their 12th Conference regular-season title. With that she earns the Coach of the Year award,

UCLA’s 21 Pac-12 wins were the most in the league since Oregon in 2018 (21-3) and the Bruins’ best since they went 22-6 in 1999. UCLA completed its Pac-12 slate five games clear of second-place Washington, the largest margin since Arizona (27-1) won it by eight games over Washington (19-9) in 1998. Following a loss at Oregon on March 24, UCLA has reeled off 23 consecutive wins, including 17 in Conference. The Bruins’ 17-game league winning streak is tied for the second-longest active streak in the country (Oklahoma – 18; South Dakota State – 17) and was UCLA’s longest in a single season since 2002. UCLA’s overall 23-game winning streak is second in the country behind Oklahoma (41). Inouye-Perez is the sixth in Pac-12 history to be voted the Conference’s Coach of the Year at least three times, joining Arizona’s Mike Candrea (11), UCLA’s Sharron Backus (four), UCLA’s Sue Enquist (three), Oregon’s Mike White (three) and Oregon and Washington’s Teresa Wilson (three).