UCLAs Jordan Woolery, Megan Grant are the | College News

The Bruin Bombers. The Bash Brothers. The Splash Brothers.

Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant are open to any nicknames that replicate their standing as faculty softball’s most formidable hitting duo.

“Whatever anyone wants to call us,” Woolery stated, “we don’t even care.”

Any credible nickname should acknowledge their staggering energy. Bonus factors are accessible for a reference to their native Bay Area. What’s not negotiable is the conveying of their connection, both as the best of mates and their proximity in UCLA’s batting order.

Woolery hits third, adopted by Grant in the cleanup spot. It has been that method in every lineup card this season besides for the three video games in which Grant was either restricted to pinch-hitting duties or sidelined because of a minor hamstring harm.

The payoff of pairing them collectively has been historic, a mixture as confirmed as peanut butter and jelly or Simon and Garfunkel.

The junior sluggers have mixed for more home runs (47) and runs batted in (161) than any different pair of hitters in the nation, vaulting the ninth-seeded Bruins (52-10) into the Columbia Super Regional to face eighth-seeded South Carolina (43-15). The best-of-three collection begins at 10 a.m. PDT Friday in Columbia, S.C., the opener televised by ESPN2.

“The numbers that they’re putting up,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez stated of what would possibly go down as the best hitting combo in college historical past, “are exciting and loud. These two are doing things that you just don’t see.”

Their spots in the order at all times begin with the identical ritual — a bat faucet, accompanied by Woolery saying, “I got you.” Grant usually returns the favor, particularly when her teammate will get on base.

Early this season, after Arizona walked Woolery on 4 pitches, Grant smashed a three-run home run, offering the Wildcats additional reminders about why that was a dangerous concept.

“What I did was chest-bump Jordan about 50 times when we hit home plate together,” Grant stated. “It was just the hypest moment, honestly.”

Woolery and Grant can usually be discovered collectively in the dugout, on staff planes or at Lamonica’s NY Pizza, their go-to stress reduction spot in Westwood Village. They’re not roommates but would possibly as nicely be; they invariably reside in one of their rooms long before the first pitch when Woolery braids Grant’s hair while watching “Catfish,” a favourite tv show.

When a reporter inquired about their palpable bond, Grant cracked, “You can feel the aura?”

Both gamers immediately cracked up.

Separating the inseparable pair is a no-no. The final time it occurred, amid a uncommon hunch late final season, Inouye-Perez made the mistake of not placing them back to back in the batting order. They went a mixed two for eight and made sure their coach knew about it the next day.

“It’s just the vibe was off, for sure,” Grant stated, “so we had to talk to ‘Coach I’ about it.”

Said Woolery: “Since then, we haven’t left each other’s side.”

Why would they?

Woolery and Grant’s RBI whole is the highest by any duo in college historical past, surpassing the 158 RBIs that Stacey Nuveman and Julie Marshall tallied on the method to serving to the Bruins win the 1999 NCAA championship.

When knowledgeable of the feat, after that they had mixed for 13 RBIs final weekend during the Bruins’ record-setting regional romp while outscoring three opponents by a mixed 31-2, Grant positioned her hand over her mouth in disbelief. Catcher Alexis Ramirez, seated next to Grant and Woolery in the interview room, patted Grant on the shoulder.

“Oh my God,” Ramirez stated, offering one other nickname, “Smash Brothers.”

Grant then threw an arm around Woolery in celebration, the teammates smiling extensively.

“If Meg wasn’t awesome,” Woolery stated, “I couldn’t be awesome, so just grateful to have her by my side.”

There’s symmetry in nearly every part they do. Both gamers have been finalists for USA Softball collegiate participant of the 12 months and have been first staff all-conference alternatives in every season at UCLA.

Megan Grant (43), becoming a member of teammates in a celebratory “night night” gesture after hitting a home run Friday against UC Santa Barbara, has 25 home runs and 79 RBIs this season.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Grant’s 25 homers are tied with Ohio State’s Jasmyn Burns for the most in a single season by any Big Ten Conference participant. If Grant hits one other homer, she’ll break the convention document since Ohio State has been eradicated from the NCAA event.

Woolery, who has hit 22 homers, leads the staff with 82 RBIs, and her .423 batting average trails only Savannah Pola’s .437. Collectively, the Bruins comprise one of the most fearsome lineups in the nation, having piled up a team-record 28 mercy-rule wins.

Hitting coach Lisa Fernandez received’t price Woolery or Grant over the different in phrases of energy.

“Oh, no,” Fernandez stated with a snigger. “I mean, they’re both powerful. And I give them credit — as powerful as they are, they don’t just rely on that, you know what I mean? They understand when they need to go for theirs, they understand the process.

“I think they push each other, but they do it in a way that is also embracing each other’s gifts and successes, and I think that is a credit to them and the relationship that they have. We make a conscious effort to understand that one helps the other. The better Jo does, Megan has a chance to pick up RBIs and when Megan does great, Jordan, you’re going to see pitches, so you work together, they make each other great.”

Woolery and Grant have recognized each different since committing to UCLA when they have been in the eighth grade. Even then, Fernandez stated, she realized they “may be the best one-two combo in terms of power numbers that have played this game in terms of being back to back.”

Although Woolery dabbled in basketball growing up, Grant was once so smitten with the sport that she thought it was going to be her pathway to a Division I faculty scholarship. She even earned the nickname “Chef Megan” — a play on Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry’s nickname — before all of the hoopla about sticking with basketball ended when her travel-team coach advised her that softball was her calling.

UCLA infielders Jordan Woolery (15) and Megan Grant (43) during a win over UC Santa Barbara. The two mixed for 13 RBIs as the Bruins dominated their own regional event.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Grant’s toughness is rooted in taking part in baseball alongside two older brothers who spared no sympathy.

“Being the baby didn’t really mean anything to them, you know?” Grant stated. “It was always hardcore — if you can’t catch, get out, that type of stuff.”

That kind of mentality comes in useful for both gamers while taking batting apply from Fernandez, extensively regarded as the high pitcher in softball historical past.

“Having the greatest pitcher pitch to you after practice,” Woolery stated, “that’s a dream, honestly.”

Although it could have been simple for one slugger to strive to high the different, they immediately realized that pulling collectively would only amplify the potentialities.

“At the end of the day,” Woolery stated, “our goal is to win a national championship, so we can’t do that if we’re competing against each other, you know?”

Grant likes to say that she has the best seat in the home, watching Woolery hit from the on-deck circle. Whenever one of the — insert nickname right here — hits a home run, she at all times finds her beloved teammate in the dugout, main to an embrace.

“It’s just like such a bliss moment,” Woolery stated. “Just seeing Meg do her thing, it’s so special.”

Pressed about the nickname potentialities, both gamers finally acknowledge they do have a favourite.

Not surprisingly, it’s the identical one, created by Vinny Lavalsiti, a member of the college’s athletics communications employees.

Said Grant: “Bruin Bombers.”

Said Woolery: “Yeah, Bruin Bombers.”