‘Like a war beginning’ for Megan Grant, UCLA

“It’s kind of like a war beginning,” Grant said.

Friday certainly counts as a special occasion, a war beginning as it were, as UCLA opens the NCAA Softball Championship tournament. The Bruins are ranked No. 6 in the nation, and are set to host the four-team, double-elimination Los Angeles regional, with Grand Canyon University, San Diego State and Virginia Tech also joining the party.

UCLA opens play against Grand Canyon — led by former Carlmont and Santa Clara University standout Ashley Trierweiler, ranking fourth in the nation with a .464 batting average — Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Easton Stadium. It’s a rematch of last season’s Super Regional opener, one that did not go UCLA’s way. The Bruins were ranked No. 2 in the nation in 2023, but went two-and-out in the Salt Lake City Super Regional, starting with a 3-2 loss to Grand Canyon. A 2-1 elimination loss to Liberty ended UCLA’s season.

“I think we’re super intentful on finishing kind of what we started last year, and that’s just going to start us with a huge fire under our butts,” Grant said. “But we’re going to go one pitch at a time. I think last year we looked into the future … and this time we’re going full force with a chip on our shoulders.”

It was a disappointing end to spectacular freshman season for Grant, who picked up right where she left off after graduating from Aragon in 2022 with a legendary four-year varsity career. Grant was named to the 2023 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and earned NFCA Second Team All-American honors with the Bruins, ranking second on the team with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs.

This season, Grant came back down to earth, batting .349 with seven homers and 37 RBIs. She did, however, lead the Bruins in doubles with 11, including one during a three-game regular-season series at Stanford that likely left a divot in the center field wall at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium. It was a screaming line drive, one that only stayed in the yard because it probably never arced higher than the top of the wall. That didn’t stop it from hitting the top of the wall like a thunderclap, driving home Jordan Woolery in an eventual 9-3 UCLA victory, part of a three-game series sweep for the Bruins.

“I can tell you that was an outstanding at-bat against one of the top pitchers in the country,” UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said, “but … even more important than that, she has had some of the longest home runs that some of the other players in the program say they’ve ever seen.”

Grant’s most recent return home to play at Stanford came in the recent Pac-12 Tournament. The Bruins claimed the tournament title to assure themselves of hosting an NCAA regional. It also marked the first time Grant has gone head-to-head in the Bay Area with her longtime Aragon and Warrior Academy travel teammate Olivia DiNardo, currently a sophomore at University of Arizona. UCLA and Arizona met in the tournament semifinals, Friday, May 10, with the Bruins rallying for a 6-5 comeback victory.

DiNardo went 5 for 7 with two home runs and six RBIs in the tourney. It was more of the same from the Arizona sophomore, who shared co-Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division Softball Player of the Year honors with Grant in 2022. The two former teammates had never played against one another until they got to college.

“It’s really funny,” Grant said. “We’re honestly just messing around sometimes. But the Pac-12 Tournament, not so much. But it’s always good to see Liv, and we always make time to see each other on the outside.”

Arizona is also headed to the NCAA regional playoffs. The Wildcats travel to the Fayetteville Regional hosted by University of Arkansas, and will be joined by Villanova and Southeast Missouri State in the double-elimination tournament opening Friday.

On defense, Grant lists as a utility player, but mostly patrols right field. Prior to college, the smooth-fielding, rocket-armed Grant only ever played shortstop. At UCLA, however, shortstop has been on lockdown in recent years with Maya Brady on roster. Brady recently earned her second straight Pac-12 Player of the Year award, and Wednesday was named a Top 10 Finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year.

With Brady playing as a fifth-year senior this season, the shortstop position will be opening up in 2025. Grant has played various positions for the Bruins, including shortstop.

“I’ll be honest, we’re focusing on right now,” Inouye-Perez said. “She has played the infield … she’s pretty much played every position … and we continue to have her in that role.

“She is a versatile utility player,” Inouye-Perez said. “She can play any position. She has a glove, and she has an arm, she has a high IQ and she is valuable because she can play any position on the field.”

Grant said it doesn’t matter to her where she plays, as long as she gets to swing the bat.

“I like being in the outfield because you think about hitting more than anything,” Grant said.

“I haven’t stopped taking the reps, infield, outfield, wherever,” Grant said. “I just kind of like being thrown anywhere. It doesn’t matter to me.”